"Stacking Up The Moments" Pearl Milling Company's Rebranding Campaign
The summer of 2021 the new Pearl Milling Company packaging hit store shelves. This was is response to their parent company - PepsiCo's commitment to review their branding for diversity and inclusion. The company announced in 2020 that they would retire Aunt Jemima from the packaging and change the name of the iconic pancake mixes and syrups. (Pearl Milling Company History) In recent months the commercial marketing has ramped up for the product. The 30-second spots feature scenes of diverse families enjoying breakfast with the narrator stating “Pearl Milling Company isn’t new to this.” They continue by reminding us that “Our perfectly fluffy, syrupy goodness has been there for every special moment and we’ll always be here. Stack up the Moments.” The only mention of the old branding is a brief disclaimer, “New name. Same great taste as Aunt Jemima.”
In an email to CNNBusiness, PepsiCo wrote “Shelves are still transitioning so it is too early to share sales figures, but we’re encouraged as we look at initial Pearl Milling Company velocity performance,”. However, according to a Ad Age-Harris poll, 66% of consumers are aware of the name change, but only 23% said the rebranding would make them more likely to buy the products, 28% said the update would make them less likely to buy products, and 43% said it would have no impact on their purchasing decision.
After the retirement announcement of Aunt Jemima, Black-owned Michele Foods saw a 78% jump in syrup sales. CEO Michele Hoskins contributed this increase in sales to “People want[ing] authentic products.” According to a 2020 Forbes article, Hoskins' "syrups and their branding are as authentic as they come". In the late 1800's Hoskins' great-great-grandmother developed the recipe of honey, churned butter, and cream. The recipe was pasted down the generations until Hoskins decided to not just pass a recipe on to her daughters but a company. Read more about Hoskins in this Forbes article.
Around the same time PepsiCo made their announcement to retire Aunt Jemima other recognizable brands chose to rebrand for their racially incentive origins. Mars Inc's Uncle Ben's Rice is now Ben's Original. B&G Foods removed the black chef from their Cream of Wheat packaging. Land O'Lakes brand of dairy product traded the image of Mia an indigenous woman for serene portrait of a tree-fringed lake. Conagra announced that they would review the shape of their Mrs. Butterworth bottle. They have yet to change the shape or share the results of their review.
Who created this message? - PepsiCo and Quaker Foods are the parent company for the new Pearl Milling Company brand of pancake mixes and syrups.
What creative techniques are used to attract my attention? - The ad plays on my desire to have an idyllic family breakfast - one where everyone is happily smiling and creating shared memories. They depict multi generational, racially diverse families. The scenes help me and others feel like we could recreate the moment around our own tables.
How might different people interpret this message differently than me? - When the Aunt Jemima retirement announcement first came out there were those who were agree and disappointed that Lillian Richard's (the first Aunt Jemima brand ambassador) was not being represented for her accomplishments. You can read more about her families reaction in this wbur Here & Now article.
Why is this message being sent? - These ads were created to send the succinct message. “Pearl Milling Company isn’t new to this.” “Our perfectly fluffy, syrupy goodness has been there for every special moment and we’ll always be here. Stack up the Moments.”