35. Branding through a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens
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SUMMARY
Iconic brands are those you recognize right away without even having to see a logo. The shape of the package, the color of the label are dead giveaways.
On this episode, India is joined by Erica Courdae to talk about a staple brand that India grew up with and how she’s recently learned the troubling history behind its branding and marketing.
UNCOVERING THE BRAND’S PROBLEMATIC ROOTS, THEY DISCUSS:
The role stereotypes play in subliminal brand messaging,
How and why Black people have been portrayed to market products, and
Why it’s critical to question the story behind a brand’s message.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Marketing is meant to be so subliminal, so subtle you don’t have to think about.
Black people being marketed as being uneducated, stupid, and incapable keeps them from being seen as a threat.
It’s our responsibility to research the history of brands and question whether it supports where we’re going as a society.
To grow an iconic and aligned brand, you must begin with outlining your values so they can lead as your compass.
QUOTED
INDIA JACKSON
“I’m thinking this is someone who looks like my ancestors, not the household cook.”
“We participated in supporting this brand with our money, generation after generation. You gotta do your research.”
“It’s not that this was created in the 1800s, but that it was recreated to supposedly make it better and allowed to continue until they got called out in 2020.”
“Can we start questioning more, please? “
ERICA COURDAE
“You mention the word chef, but I don’t know when a Black person would have been able to have had the title chef. You’re the cook — you just make the food.”
“This man was used to market a product from a place of being uneducated and stupid.”
“How many of us have a hard time wrapping our head around how painful this programming and limitative signaling this is, but also how genius the marketing is? That’s scary.”
“What is underneath this marketing that you were programmed to consider or think about or normalize? Just because it wasn’t part of your life doesn’t mean you weren’t programmed this way.”
“History was given by the people that wanted you to see it through their eyes.”
“It’s not about the product. It’s the marketing. It’s the messaging.”
The imagery behind the Cream of Wheat brand
India begins the episode by sharing how she grew up eating Cream of Wheat. It was a staple in her household. She said you didn’t even have to see the front of it to know it was on someone’s table or in their pantry.
Erica agreed that it was a staple in many African-American households, especially those of low-income families. You could make a lot of it without many ingredients.
India shared how she liked that it had a Black man with a chef’s hat on the front. She didn’t see a lot of products with a person of color on it and subconsciously thought it was cool that someone who looked like her was on the box.
Erica points out that the photo on Cream of Wheat’s label was not just a Black man. It was meant to signal a servant, cook, or maid. She said that people love to say this is out of an admiration or fondness, but the truth is it signals “the help” cooking for white people.
India shares a bit of history about the brand that has been around since 1893 because, as she’s finding, history can be problematic.
The figure on the front of the label was actually developed after a fictional character named Rastus. The name itself isn’t even random.
It’s a name associated with African Americans in the U.S. that was pejorative and racist. It was often given to Black men to signal stupidity, uneducated, and incapable. Historically this was used to put Black people down because a smart Black person was seen as a threat.
“It’s just a photo.”
Erica and India talk about how this is beat into your psyche seeing it all the time. Erica points out that many products are marketed this way; even shows follow this programming. She calls this limitative signaling and while it’s troubling, it’s also ingenious marketing because it works. And that’s scary.
When this conversation has come up around brands like Uncle Ben’s or Aunt Jemima, people have often said, “It’s just a photo.” And, yes, it’s a photo but it’s also representative of what people believe Black people look like and what their role is.
Using these figures, illustrations, and caricatures is reminiscent for many white people of a time when Black people would cook for them. The marketing is meant to be subliminal and subtle so you don’t have to question whether it’s problematic. From inception to now, the marketing of Cream of Wheat hasn’t really changed, in the same way, Erica says, that people have and continue to make films with the magical Negro character.
This is why it’s important to think about how your brand is using language and what that might support. We must question what we’re participating in and allowing to continue happening because of our purchasing decisions.
Who writes the history books?
India asks why we allow products with Black images rooted in slavery to stay in our cabinets when we would never serve our children cereal with Hitler’s face on it. She mentions that part of this, she believes, is because so much was left out of our history lessons in school.
Erica references the quote by William Barr, “History was written by the winners.”
She says that when you’re not in the position to be the victor, your narrative is told through the eyes of the person who came out on top, whether that’s right or wrong.
In 2020 people are starting to question brand narratives, poking holes at what we previously took at face value. Marketing doesn’t look like it used to — people question it now and there are finally enough people who won’t stay silent about it.
India brings up the fact that this is very hard work to engage in on your own and why it’s important that Erica and she have been combining efforts for clients to audit their marketing asking questions like: are there things within your language and/or visuals that are appropriating another culture or are otherwise harmful?
Erica’s tagline, reconsider your normal, is a theme that runs though this entire episode, India says. She explains that this work isn’t comfortable but can also present an opportunity to create new sources of comfort that come from a place that’s more equitable and considerate of someone else’s reality.
In closing, the two say that these conversations aren’t just for white people. These are hard for Black people to engage in too because it requires peeling back layers, unlearning, and relearning better ways. Erica’s final word of advice is to be patient with yourself knowing the shift won’t (and doesn’t need to) happen overnight.
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