Pearl Milling? Who’s she?

Okay, I understand that the stereotype of the black woman on the bottle was offensive to many—the earliest ones especially offensive and insulting. Even in the 1980s they were kind of Southern menial labor looking for a great culinary product as far as syrup goes.

I thought it was a wise decision to just remove the image altogether. I was glad to see, in Walmart, that they had removed the image but kept the name and overall look of the product. Now we could have our familiar Aunt Jemima and eat it, too.

They should have left it at that.

In June, the name will be changed to Pearl Milling. It sounds like Minnie Pearl to me, from Grinder’s Switch, TN (which was a mill town).

They say that Pearl Milling was the original name of the company that owned Aunt Jemima but I hate to see her divorced from her product altogether, knowing the history of it.

The new Pearl Milling label coming out in June just looks like a crappy knock-off brand, wanting the look of the Aunt Jemima label, to me.

Might as well call it Pepsico Syrup, or put the Quaker Oats dude on it, smiling about how you should be thankful for your oatmeal.

But I’ll get used to it. Pearl Milling at least has SOME historic presedence. Still, I think it sounds like Minnie Pearl.

Okay, I’ll end on a positive note. Overall, yes, I think its a good idea. A positive change. I just hate to see her go.