Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - S10E01 - The Times They Are A-Changin': Brands Crushed By Zeitgeist

Episode Date: January 7, 2021

This week, we explore how this new era of racial reckoning is affecting the world of marketing. Several of the leading brands have their roots in racial stereotypes, like Aunt Jemima - which took its imagery from the slave era. Some brands, like Eskimo Pies, have announced they are now re-naming their products and acknowledging their old names were offensive to indigenous people. We’ll also look at sports teams and their long history of controversy with team names. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly. As you may know, we've been producing a lot of bonus episodes while under the influences on hiatus. They're called the Beatleology Interviews, where I talk to people who knew the Beatles, work with them, love them, and the authors who write about them. Well, the Beatleology Interviews have become a hit, so we are spinning it out to be a standalone podcast series. You've already heard conversations with people like actors Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, and Beatles confidant Astrid Kershaw. But coming up, I talk to May Pang, who dated John Lennon in the mid-70s. I talk to double fantasy guitarist Earl Slick, Apple Records creative director John Kosh. I'll be talking to Jan Hayworth,

who designed the Sgt. Pepper album cover. Very cool. And I'll talk to singer Dion, who is one of only five people still alive who were on the Sgt. Pepper cover. And two of those people were Beatles. The stories they tell are amazing. So thank you for making this series such a success. And please, do me a favor, follow the Beatleology interviews on your podcast app. You don't even have to be a huge Beatles fan, you just have to love storytelling.

Subscribe now, and don't miss a single beat. This is an apostrophe podcast production. Your teeth look whiter than no nose. You're not you when you're hungry. You're a good hand with all teeth. You're under the influence of Terry O'Reilly. The sitcom Golden Girls hit the air in 1985. It centered around four older women in their golden years who were either widowed or divorced, and they all lived together in one house in Miami.

It starred Bea Arthur as the strong-willed Dorothy, Betty White as the spacey Rose, Rue McClenahan as the lusty Southern Belle Blanche, and Estelle Getty as Dorothy's feisty mother, Sophia. Spacey Rose, Rue McClenahan as the lusty Southern Belle Blanche, and Estelle Getty as Dorothy's feisty mother, Sophia. The Golden Girls won Golden Globes, and all four actresses won Emmys for their performances. The show was a hit in 60 countries and ran for seven years.

The final episode aired almost 30 years ago, when Bea Arthur's character marries and moves away, breaking up the gang. So, it may surprise you to learn the Golden Girls got into a little bit of trouble in the year 2020. Streaming service Hulu made a decision recently to remove an episode of The Golden Girls from its archive. The episode in question originally aired in 1988. The plot revolved around Dorothy's son planning to wed a black woman twice his age. When the son brings his fiancée home, Rose and Blanche happen to be giving each other mud facials. So, when the couple walks through the door, the surprised golden girls are caught sporting a variation

of blackface. Rose says, this is mud on our faces. We're not really black. The episode titled Mixed Blessings is now purged from Hulu. And it isn't the only sitcom to edit its past.

Blackface episodes of Scrubs and Community have each been taken off their respective streaming platforms. Tina Fey, creator and star of 30 Rock, specifically requested that four episodes of her show be pulled. All involved white actors

in Blackface. Fey believes the episodes are best taken out of circulation permanently. She went on to say, quote, I understand now that intent is not a free pass for white people to use these images. In other words, not meaning to offend doesn't mean you're not offending. While sitcoms are editing their past, we've entered an era where brands are being pressured to also edit their futures. Recent incidents have brought on a time of reckoning in the marketing world.

Companies with products rooted in racist imagery are now being pressured to change their branding. The current zeitgeist raises a lot of questions. How was the racist imagery adopted in the first place? Why has it taken so long to change? And are the decisions to overhaul their branding due to company values, or is it strictly financially motivated? Brands have been through a lot of flux in the last five years. During the Trump presidency, the public started demanding to know a brand's values,

both culturally and politically. Then, with the killing of George Floyd in May of 2020, it has become a racial reckoning for many brands. But using racial stereotypes has been contentious long before 2020. Hello, boys and girls. It's me, the Frito Bandido. You know what I heard about you? I heard you want to be a Frito Bandido like me. You do? Then you must sing the Bandido song.

Let's sing together. You just follow the bouncing Frito'sito was the mascot for Frito Corn Chips beginning in 1967. The cartoon character was a Mexican bandit, created for the brand by Tex Avery, who also animated Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Speedy Gonzales. The legendary Mel Blanc provided the voice. The mascot wore a Mexican sombrero, sported a thin mustache, a gold tooth,

a pair of six shooters on his belt, and a fondness for armed robbery. In the commercials, the Frito Bandito was always trying to steal your corn chips. Oh, don't be afraid. I'm not going to steal your Frito Bandito was always trying to steal your corn chips. Oh, don't be afraid. I'm not going to steal your Frito's corn chips. I buy them from you, okay? See, I give you silver.

No silver? Okay, I give you gold. You don't like gold neither? Maybe you like better some lead, huh? The lead he's referring to are bullets, as he points his guns at the viewer. The National Mexican-American Anti-Defamation Committee in Washington, D.C., objected to this stereotype. They believed it depicted Mexicans as sneaky thieves and was a racist caricature. Frito-Lay was reluctant to let go of its popular mascot.

It tried to clean the Frito Bandito up, losing the mustache and gold tooth, then relieving him of his guns after the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968. The anti-racist pressure continued and shifted to protests of local television stations that aired the commercials. But the advertising continued, which indicated the campaign was selling a lot of chips,

as Frito-Lay was willing to withstand the criticism. So Mexican-American advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against Frito-Lay for $610 million, seeking $100 for every Mexican-American the campaign had offended, citing, quote, malicious defamation and a lack of corporate good faith. The bad publicity started piling up. Public opinion began to sour.

The issue had now shifted from advocacy to monetary. With that, Frito-Lay pulled the plug in 1971, and the Frito-Bandito evaporitoed. Way back in 1888, two entrepreneurs in Missouri purchased a flour mill company. They wanted to create a food product that could become a national grocery bestseller. It had to be something the entire country liked to eat. Something fun. Something only their mill could produce. And one more thing, it had to consume a lot of flour.

Then it came to them. Pancakes. Everybody liked pancakes. But pancake batter was difficult to mix consistently batch to batch. So they experimented with a variety of ingredients to find just the right blend. A year later, they hit on the ideal recipe that, when milk was added,

resulted in the perfect ready-made pancake mix. Next, they needed a name and package design that would persuade housewives across the country to trust this newfangled ready-mix product. Then, one night while watching a vaudeville act, they found the answer. They saw a pair of male black-faced minstrels dressed in aprons and red kerchiefs

singing a song called Old Aunt Jemima. It captivated the crowd. In that moment, the pancake entrepreneurs knew they had found the branding they had been looking for. The image of a smiling, matronly black woman wearing an apron and a red bandana suggested kitchen know-how and southern hospitality. They even decided to call their pancake mix Aunt Jemima.

A trademark was registered in 1890, but the pancake duo soon ran into trouble because they didn't have the capital to properly market their pancake mix nationally. So, they sold their product to the much larger R.T. Davis Mill and Manufacturing Company. That organization greatly improved the pancake mix by adding powdered milk. Now cooks only had to add water, the Aunt Jemima Mills Company and started searching for a real, live Aunt Jemima to personify the brand. They found a woman named Nancy Green.

She had been born on a plantation in Kentucky in 1834, but had somehow gained her freedom, moved to Chicago, and began cooking for a local judge. Green was described as, quote, a magnificent cook, an attractive woman, gregarious in the extreme. She was given an exclusive contract to impersonate Aunt Jemima for the rest of her life. Green would tour all over the U.S. and Canada, cooking pancakes, singing songs,

and telling stories of the Old South. By 1918, over 120 million Aunt Jemima breakfasts were being served annually. In 1926, the Aunt Jemima brand was purchased by Quaker Oats, who placed the advertising account with its agency, Lord & Thomas. Under the influence, listeners may recognize that name, as Lord & Thomas was led by none other than Albert Lasker. Lasker and his team produced advertising featuring Aunt Jemima

that ranked among the most popular of the time. Smiling, happy Aunt Jemima, famous for those secret recipe pancakes, waffles, and buckwheat. Seems to me you're just bursting with one of your happy sayings. Well, I is, Mr. Charlie. The old folks, they says, you doubles your own happiness when you shares it with other folks. Through the years, several black women would personify Aunt Jemima, and the brand remained a market leader. It was voted one of the top ten most iconic mascots of the 20th century. But over that time, the black community voiced its objections,

especially during the civil rights movement of the 60s. In 1989, Quaker made a big change to the packaging. The red bandana was replaced by pearl earrings and a white lace collar. Aunt Jemima's hair was neatly coiffed and she was slimmed down. That image continued more or less until 2020. Then came the killing of George Floyd in May of 2020 and a TikTok video highlighting the brand's racist origins that attracted nearly 2 million views. Pressure mounted on Quaker to address the issue.

Then, in June, Quaker announced Aunt Jemima would be getting a new name and image. A company spokesperson said Quaker recognized that Aunt Jemima's origins were based on a racial stereotype. The product was to be completely changed to be appropriate and respectful. Quaker also pledged to donate $5 million to, quote, create meaningful, ongoing support and engagement in the black community. It's one of the first instances of a company erasing 100 years of branding.

And it's not the only product facing an uncertain future. And we'll be right back. Bet MGM is an official sports betting partner of the National Hockey League and has your back all season long. From puck drop to the final shot, you're always taken care of with the sportsbook Born in Vegas. That's a feeling you can only get with BetMGM. And no matter your team, your favorite skater, or your style, there's something every NHL fan is going to love about BetMGM.

Download the app today and discover why BetMGM is your hockey home for the season. Raise your game to the next level this year with BetMGM, a sportsbook worth a selly and an official sports betting partner of the National Hockey League. BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. Must be 19 years of age or older to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have any questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. We'll be right back. download your pods. Master list of episodes at terryoreilly.ca. One day in 1920, an eight-year-old boy walked into a confectionery store and plopped a nickel down on the counter.

The boy picked up an ice cream, then put it down, then picked up a chocolate bar, then put it down. He clearly couldn't decide. When he finally brought the chocolate bar to the counter, the store owner asked him why he didn't just buy both. The boy said, I want them both, but I only have a nickel. That moment stuck with store owner Christian K. Nelson.

The boy's dilemma got him thinking. Why not combine the two? So, Nelson began experimenting with different methods of sticking melted chocolate to frozen ice cream. The solution was cocoa butter. It was the perfect adherent to keep the chocolate on frozen ice cream. The solution was cocoa butter. It was the perfect adherent to keep the chocolate on the ice cream.

So he produced 500 bars and called them I-Scream Bars. They were a huge hit locally. Nelson then found a company to manufacture his bar on a national scale and in 1921 signed a partnership agreement to share the profits equally. They wrapped the product in a unique foil packaging and changed the name

to Eskimo Pie. The first 250,000 Eskimo Pies sold out in less than 24 hours. It became a national sensation. By 1922, over 1 million Eskimo pies were sold daily. Nelson was making over $2,000 a day in royalties. That same year, they were granted a patent for the Eskimo pie. Sometimes a patent can be expensive.

As more and more imitators popped up with their pirated versions of Eskimo pies, the partnership found themselves in court constantly defending their proprietary product. The court costs became so debilitating, they ended up selling the Eskimo pie patent to R.S. Reynolds, the giant aluminum company that manufactured their foil

packaging. Reynolds was a big company that could afford to protect their Eskimo Pie trademark, and Eskimo Pies became an ice cream staple for the next 100 years. Then, in June of 2020, Eskimo pies collided with the zeitgeist. Many indigenous peoples have long associated the word Eskimo with racist colonizers who settled in the Arctic and used the term to infer the native population were savages who, quote, ate raw flesh. In the wake of the George Floyd killing and the increased pressure for racial equality,

Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, which now owns the dessert, announced it would be retiring the Eskimo Pie name. It is also removing the image of the dark-haired child wearing the mittens and fur-lined parka from its packaging. The company acknowledged that the term Eskimo is considered derogatory and

unacceptable by many indigenous people. A spokesperson for Dreyer's said the company was committed to being part of the solution on racial equality. The new branding for the ice cream treat will now reflect the name of a white man who passed away in 1964.

From now on, Eskimo pie will be called Edie's Pie, named after Joseph Edie, one of the original founders of Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream. In the city of Edmonton, the word Eskimos has an equally long history. Various sports organizations in Edmonton have used the name Eskimos for decades, including an Eskimos baseball team in 1909, a football team in 1910, and a hockey team in 1909, a football team in 1910, and a hockey team in 1911. The same year Eskimo Pies hit the big time in 1921, the Edmonton Eskimos became the first Western team to play in the Grey Cup. But the team struggled, then was hobbled by the Great Depression. The current Edmonton Eskimos football franchise was founded in 1949, considered the

modern era of Canadian football. Over the years, the Edmonton Eskimos have won 14 Grey Cups, winning five in a row between 1978 and 1982. The team also holds a North American sports record for reaching the playoffs 34 consecutive seasons between 1972 and 2005. Research reveals that many indigenous peoples have voiced objections

to the Eskimos name since at least the 1970s, especially in the Inuit community. But this particular story shows how complicated the issue can be. The team said it had undertaken a national survey three years ago and found that 57% of Canadians didn't find the term Eskimos offensive, including 71% of Albertans. The Washington Post quoted further from the research, saying that 78% of the Western Arctic Inuit opposed the name change,

and 50% of Inuit in Nunavut were not offended, as long as it was used in a respectful manner. In 2018, the team hired a PR firm to again research public opinion. Despite continued opposition to the name by indigenous groups such as ITK, which represents 60,000 Inuit, the football club maintained there were still other Inuit organizations that were okay with the name. In other words, the team said there was no consensus,

even within the Inuit community. So they decided to keep the name. Then came the social justice movement sparked by George Floyd's death. This time, it came with a different kind of pressure. From advertisers. In early July, insurance company Bail Air Direct, one of the team's 13 premier sponsors, announced it planned to cut ties with the team unless it changed its name. So did Sportsbook Direct, Edmonton's official online casino and gaming partner.

Other sponsors, including Coca-Cola, said they wanted a review of the team name as well. Then, in late July, the Edmonton football team's board of directors announced the club had dropped the word Eskimos from its name. In a statement, the club said they knew those who had originally named the team did not intend to be disrespectful. In fact, it was the very opposite, saying the team was proud to associate itself with such a resilient northern people. But, added that recent findings demonstrate views regarding the team name is chosen. It can be about tackling genetics, hormones, metabolism. Felix gets it.

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Back in 1932, a consortium of businessmen purchased an NFL football franchise for the city of Boston and named it the Boston Braves. The following year, the Braves moved to Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, and changed their name to be the Boston Redskins. Five years later, the NFL approved the transfer of the Boston Redskins franchise to Washington, and a new era began. The Washington Redskins would become the first NFL team to broadcast all its games on television, starting in 1950. Come this fall, George Preston Marshall's Redskins will really be NFL team with no black players. When the owner was questioned about it, he said, quote, We'll start signing Negroes when the Harlem Globetrotters start signing whites. The Kennedy administration warned the team to hire black athletes or face federal retribution.

It was the first time in history the U.S. government had attempted to desegregate a professional sports team. Over the years, the Washington Redskins took criticism for their name from Native Americans and social activists. The controversy would ebb and flow depending on the times and the era. In the 1991 season, for example, over 3,000 people showed up to protest when the Redskins played in Super Bowl XXVI in Minneapolis. In 2013, when asked about the controversial name,

the Washington Redskins owner said the team would never change its name. He told the press they could use all caps on the word never. Then came George Floyd's death in 2020. On July 1st, a group of 87 investors and shareholders, with a total net worth of over $620 billion, sent a letter to the team's top three advertisers, FedEx, Pepsi, and Nike, urging them to pull their sponsorships unless Washington dropped its Redskins name. On July 2nd, FedEx sent a letter to the team owner.

FedEx had a 27-year, $205 million stadium naming rights deal with Washington. FedEx stated its intention to pull all signage for the 2021 season unless the name was changed. And here's the interesting part. FedEx founder Fred Smith was a Washington Redskins minority shareholder. Nike and Pepsi issued their own statements saying it was time for a change. Target, Nike, Walmart, and Dick's Sporting Goods all pulled Washington Redskins merchandise from their shelves. Then, on July 23rd, the team announced it was finally dropping its Redskins name. It would now be called the Washington Football Team, pending the adoption of a new identity. An ex-Washington running back remarked that when he heard the owner say he would never change the name,

he knew it was just a matter of time. He said, when you make a statement like that on an issue like this, those that don't care start caring. And when that happens, you know a big change is on the one-yard line. 2020 was a tumultuous year, for many reasons. And it's staggering how many ripples the death of George Floyd set into motion.

It has taken some brands a long time to address their contentious histories. Especially when even the dictionary defines some of those words as racist. Redskin definition. A dated and offensive name for a North American Indian. Eskimo definition. A member of an indigenous people living in northern climes, a term that has come to be regarded as offensive.

People of color and indigenous people have long said they resent the appropriation of their cultures, that they find the brand names and imagery offensive, and that they are nobody's mascots.

It's interesting to note that in many of the stories today, it wasn't corporate soul-searching that led to the branding changes. It was the prospect of lawsuits and the potential loss of lucrative sponsors that was more powerful than petitions or protests. Some of those organizations will have to completely redefine themselves after a century of established branding,

including, most recently, the Cleveland Indians. And it will be interesting to see if those companies can hold on to their market share when packaging and subsequent advertising has to change. But it's a reminder that just because something has been around a long time doesn't mean it shouldn't change. Just ask the Golden Girls when you're under the influence.

I'm Terry O'Reilly. This episode was recorded in the Terrastream Mobile Recording Studio. Producer Debbie O'Reilly. Sound Engineer, Keith Ullman. Theme music by Ari Posner and Ian Lefevre. Research, Patrick James Aslan. See you next week.

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