12 Racist Logos You Didn’t Know Were Used by Popular Brands

Cream of Wheat

Cream of Wheat

Nadra Kareem Nittle of About.com writes that when Emery Mapes of the North Dakota Diamond Milling Co. set out in 1893 to find an image to market his breakfast porridge, now called Cream of Wheat, he decided the portrayal of a subservient and uneducated Black chef was the best fit.

In a 1921 advertisement, the grinning chef — who was given the name Rastus — holds up a chalkboard with these words: “Maybe Cream of Wheat aint got no vitamines. I dont know what them things is. If they’s bugs they aint none in Cream of Wheat…”

Rastus represented the black man as a childlike, nonthreatening slave. The purpose was to portray African-Americans as content with a separate but (un)equal existence while making white Southerners of the time feel nostalgic about the slavery era. Though there are petitions calling for its removal the caricature still remains on the promotional packaging for Cream of Wheat today.

 

 

chocolate conguitos

 

Conguitos 

Conguitos are the Spanish version of M&Ms – a chocolate-covered peanut snack.  Notice how the name bears a resemblance to the name Congo, which may hint at where the inspiration for the sweets came from. Even if this is not true, the character on the front of the packet speaks for itself.

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