Moretto literally means “Moor kid”. But it’s also a legitimate surname especially in Milan.
They tend to use also the Milan Cathedral on other products: don’t know if they’re silently switch away…
And Fanny (or Fannie) was actually a real person unlike most mascots!
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Doesn’t “Ben’s Original” still contain racism, albeit implicit, when they attempt to retain “Ben” in their marketing? For decades, people will see the label as “[Uncle] Ben’s Original”. Tomorrow, if the Washington Redskins renamed themselves the Reds or the Skins— you’ll still see it as the Red[Skin]s or [Red]Skins. Ben is Uncle Ben.
Plus, reminding us Ben is still “the Original”, further reinforces that nothing has changed: “Ben” is still Uncle Ben. (Ok, sure, the “original” applies to Ben’s rice, but who originally made the original rice: Uncle Ben.)
This is a good question. Of course, you’re never going to find a name that doesn’t offend somebody, and there’s no Board of Racism that handles final judgements on these things, etc etc etc. But as a cis-het white man…
The name Uncle Ben is racist because of the title “Uncle”/“Aunt” used, which was created to show a different sort of respect for elder black people in the south, because they would never be called “Mister”/“Mistress”. The title is the offense. Not the name “Ben”.
The comparison to the Washington NFL team is not quite the same thing, I think. Both of those alternatives proposed are nonsense descriptors (Ohio baseball and football teams notwithstanding) that wouldn’t have any sort of anchor in association for a team nickname without the former nickname being invoked. Naming a football team “the Skins” or “the Reds” in today’s day and age is absurd. Naming a food product “Ben’s Classic” definitely fits the run-of-the-mill.
Of course, again, this is all one man’s opinion and I’m happy to listen.
In the novel, Uncle Tom is like Martin Luther King. His master beats him to death trying to find out where 2 escaped women slaves were.
Sure, I guess, but the term has taken on a life of its own since then.
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Martin lutherKing was no Uncle Tom.
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One option would be for Mars to drop the product entirely and never market another rice product.
A bit extreme perhaps, but it would immunize them against claims that it’s the same thing with a different name.
Following your logic, the only way to truly extricate all the racism out of the package, will be to omit the rice, and put a different food in instead, one less closely associated with black poverty.
The Chinese name is still 黑人牙膏, black person toothpaste.
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