The owner of Eskimo Pie treats said it would change the name of the nearly century-old ice cream brand because the term is derogatory, following similar moves this week by the makers of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben’s.
“We are committed to being a part of the solution on racial equality, and recognize the term is derogatory,” Elizabell Marquez, head of marketing for Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, said in a statement.
Dreyer’s is the U.S. subsidiary of Froneri, a joint venture between Nestlé SA NESN, +0.61% and private equity company PAI Partners.
The term Eskimo is a disparaging term for the indigenous people of the Arctic regions of northern Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Siberia.
The Eskimo Pie, invented in 1920, was America’s first chocolate-covered vanilla ice cream bar, according to the Smithsonian Institution. Its inventor, Christian K. Nelson, formed a partnership with chocolatier Russell C. Stover, who came up with the name.
The brand’s name and images—including a person wearing a fur-trimmed parka—were intended to evoke the chilly north and the indigenous people who lived there, according to the Smithsonian.
Add Comment