Eskimo Pie The Latest Brand To Change Name

This past week has been a week of companies re-evaluating their brands and making sure they are still relevant in a world that is seeing a lot more of the population against racial injustice and the use of images or names that disparage others.

The companies responsible for Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben’s, Mrs. Buttersworth, and the Cream of Wheat mascot have all decided to rebrand their products, realizing their names and imagery were based on racial stereotypes.  Now according to Reuters after 100 years, Dreyer’sGrand Ice Cream will be renaming Eskimo Pie.

The ice cream company told Reuters that they had been discussing a rebranding and name change for some time. Elizabell Marquez, Head of Marketing at Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream said in a statement,

“We are committed to being a part of the solution on racial equality, and recognize the term is derogatory.”

A quick check of the word Eskimo found, according to the University of Alaska Fairbanks ‘Alaska Native Language Center’, the word Eskimo has been used in Alaska and Canada to refer to Inuit and Yupik people, most people around the world to be derogatory because it was given people who were not Inuit, and “was said to mean “eater of raw meat””.

With that said, Dreyer’s Ice Cream is changing the name and branding but didn’t tell Reuters or any other news outlet what the ice cream bar will be called moving forward. It's good to see so many companies taking responsibility to look at their "heritage" and realize in order for our world to truly be equal for all, we have to make some serious change.