Mars is removing the image of a black farmer from its Uncle Ben’s products, and has said it will review the name. “Now is the right time to evolve the Uncle Ben’s brand, including its visual brand identity.”The Uncle Ben’s repackaging is part of a wave of corporations taking stock of their brand identities, amid a global moment of reckoning on racial inequality. All have been prominent in Irish shops and in Irish advertising. No discussion of offensive brands is completely without mention of Trebor Blackjack sweets, which sported a golliwog on the wrapper until the 1980s, or the proudly Irish HB Golly Bars. Racist brands need to go – but peeling the labels off is not enough.

Source: The Irish Times June 22, 2020 05:00 UTC