GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — PepsiCo, the parent company of the Quaker Oats Company announced Wednesday that it will rename popular breakfast brand Aunt Jemima. In a statement from PepsiCo CEO, Ramon Laguarta about the companies support for the Black Lives Matter movement, he said "We know that the first step toward change is to speak up, so I want to be very clear: Black Lives Matter, to our company and to me."
In a report from ABC News, the brand will be renamed and the image of Aunt Jemima will be removed from its packaging.
Local brand expert Erik Lauchie is the creative director and founder of Carbon Stories in Grand Rapids. He says the announcement shows that change can happen.
"With all of the changes that are happening with different brands, I personally think that its a great start to some very systematic changes that need to occur and then also the changes that have to happen in people's hearts but I know that people doing simple things such as Aunt Jemima changing their logo, tha'ts a very good starts."
He says changing a brand's image or logo could cost a company millions of dollars. But says that's a small price to pay to communicate the right message to the world. One brand that has joined the conversation of change that Erik works closely with is Chaco Footwear.
"Chaco's Footwear specifically, we are working on a project with them for their global brand conference. It was great to see them respond in a good way you can go to their social media and see what that response was. They realize that it is an issue in the outdoor industry of having segregation, not being very diverse and so I'm grateful that they're putting not only their money where there mouth is but then also showing their support."
So why are brands committing to change now? Ginny Seyferth is the President and founder of Seyferth PR. She says, its just the right thing to do now.
"Brands as a whole are realizing that they have a social responsibility to change the way we think."
Ginny says that brands like Aunt Jemima are being challenged through shelf space. And she says that brands need to prove their value to consumers.
"I hope its more than a product I hope its really a transformation they can through," Ginny says. "Today more than ever consumers want to know what's behind the brand and that's a really important issue. Consumers don't want to buy products where the company is not treating its people well, not treating the environment well, not serving the community well. And that's really what its all about."
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