The African-American man who has appeared as the mascot of Uncle Ben’s since 1946, is an image of a Chicago Maître d’hôtel named Frank Brown. The man on the packets and box was a maître d’hotel at an unknown Chicago restaurant in the mid-50s named Frank Brown. Gordon L. Harwell, an entrepreneur who had supplied rice to the armed forces in World War II, chose the name Uncle Ben's as a means to expand his marketing efforts to the general public. From 1946 to 2020, Uncle Ben's products carried the image of an elderly African-American man dressed in a bow tie, which is said to have been based on a Chicago maître d'hôtel named Frank Brown. Have something to tell us about this article? Uncle Ben’s was first based in Houston, Texas. Gordon L. Harwell, an entrepreneur who had supplied rice to the armed forces in World War II, chose the name Uncle Ben's as a means to expand his marketing efforts to the general public. Monica Perrin, "Uncle Ben's closing old mill, moving operations to Mississippi", "Uncle Ben's has a new name: Ben's Original", Birth Certificate of "Erich Gustav Wilhelm August Louis Huzenlaub", http://www.mars.com/global/about-mars/history.aspx, "Houston-based Uncle Ben's to evolve its brand after Pepsi ditches Aunt Jemima", "The Advertiser's Holy Trinity: Aunt Jemima, Rastus, and Uncle Ben", "Uncle Ben's Changes To Ben's Original Amid Rebrand Of Racist Labeling", "Uncle Ben's orders up 100 per cent sustainable rice", "Uncle Ben's follows Aunt Jemima in move to phase out racial stereotypes in logos", "Uncle Ben's Vows to Upgrade 'Visual Brand Identity, "Uncle Ben's rice getting new name — Ben's Original", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Uncle_Ben%27s&oldid=988644129, Name changes due to the George Floyd protests, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 14 November 2020, at 11:56. According to Mars, Uncle Ben was an African-American rice grower known for the quality of his rice. 3. [20][21] As advertised on September 23, 2020, Mars Inc. will replace the "Uncle Ben's" name with "Ben's Original" in 2021. No, Uncle Ben was not a real person and is, instead, a fictional character. [9] In 1944, with additional financing from the Defense Plant Corporation and an investment by Forrest Mars, it built a second large plant. In response to the Black Lives Matter movement, Uncle Ben’s rice is due to ‘evolve its brand’ but many have been left asking, was Uncle Ben a real person? [14][15] According to Mars, Uncle Ben was an African-American rice grower known for the quality of his rice. [2] The brand's products are sold worldwide. Ben reportedly won a number of awards for the quality and yield of his rice crops. Gordon Harwell, who later became president of Uncle Ben’s, was dining in Chicago when he saw a man whose face is now known as Uncle Ben. One Twitter user wrote: “Yes thank you. He chose the name Uncle Ben’s as a means to expand his marketing efforts to the general public. He decided to … The process entailed vacuum drying the whole grain, then steaming, and finally vacuum drying and husking. Uncle Ben’s was founded as Converted Brand Rice by co-founders Erich Huzenlaub and Gordon Harwell, according to the brand’s website. pic.twitter.com/n0e1pZ75OF. Twitter: Can you screenshot Fleets? Huzenlaub's London-based company was Rice Conversion, Ltd.[7] The two eventually formed Mars and Huzenlaub[8] in Houston, Texas, which gave Forrest Mars partial ownership of the Huzenlaub Process rice conversion patent. The name was chosen by Gordon L. Harwell… Kik and R.R. As noted here, Uncle Ben was a famous rice farmer from Texas famed throughout the states for the quality of his rice crop and being Spider-man’s great uncle or something. M.C. In Jim Crow days, southern whites refused to use courtesy titles like Mr. or Mrs., but to avoid being disrespectful to the elderly, they would call older blacks “Uncle” or “Aunt” (Jemima). [18], In September 2017, Mars, Inc. started to certify the sustainability of basmati rice sold under the Uncle Ben's brand, in order to encourage the local farmers to opt for the best agricultural methods. The announcement came just a few hours after the Aunt Jemima breakfast foods range revealed that it would also be going through a similar rebrand as concerns grew over the brand’s logo which is said to be a racial stereotype. The name “Uncle Ben’s” began being used in the 1940s after Harwell and his business partner discussed a famed Texas farmer, referred to as Uncle Ben… For decades, the visage of a kindly old man has been selling instant rice under the moniker of Uncle Ben. “Uncle Ben” Black History Month 5: In the 1930s, Gordon Harwell began making converted rice.He named it Uncle Ben’s Plantation Rice, supposedly after a prize-winning Gulf-Coast rice farmer. Not only has the COVID-19 pandemic killed almost 450,000 people worldwide but the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests that erupted after the death of George Floyd have unearthed decades, if not centuries of systemic racism in society. 48334146, citing Oakwood Cemetery, Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas, USA ; … Uncle Ben is a fictional character based on Gordon L. Harwell, who (according to WIKI ‘supplied rice to the armed forces in World War II. The year 2020 has been one of the strangest and most alarming in recent memory. Accounts vary, but it seems that Ben's reputation was recalled by Texas food broker Gordon L. Harwell when he was was looking for a way to mass … [19], On June 17, 2020, Mars, Inc. stated that they would be "evolving" the brand's identity, including the brand's logo. Feature explained! The advantage of this product was that it could be air-dropped to troops in the field without risk of weevil infestation, and it could be cooked more quickly than other rice products. The face of Uncle Ben is, in … In 2007, Ben was promoted to “Chairman,” but no CEO would be called “Uncle” or by first name only. We have a responsibility to help end racial injustices. Here is a little bit of history behind “Uncle Ben.” 1. In response, we’ve seen everything from the toppling of statues with links to slavery and the censoring of racially offensive films and TV. When the Uncle Ben’s firm was set up in the 1940s, the name, Uncle Ben’s was chosen by Gordon L. Harwell as a marketing device and to give the product a degree of familiarity and as a supposed reference to a Texas rice farmer renowned for the quality of his rice. Patents 2,239608 (22 April 1941), 2,287,737 (20 December 1941), 2,287,737 (23 June 1942), cited in Kik and Williams. [10] In 1959, Forrest Mars purchased Erich Huzenlaub's interest in the company and merged it into his Food Manufacturers, Inc.[11], Uncle Ben's milling plant was on the Houston Ship Channel until 1999, when it moved to Greenville, Mississippi. In the 1940s, Mr Huzenlaub went into partnership with a Houston businessman, Gordon Harwell, to market long-life rice. Uncle Ben's rice was first marketed in 1943 and was the top-selling rice in the United States from 1950 until the 1990s. [4], In 1932, Forrest Mars Sr., moved to the United Kingdom with a remit to expand the Mars food company internationally. As for where the name “Uncle Ben” came from, he was actually a real guy. For the comic book character, see, Brand of parboiled rice and related food products. [16] The name "Uncle Ben's" was criticized as racist as White southerners reportedly addressed Black men as "uncle", allegedly in order to avoid using Mr.[17], In March 2007, Uncle Ben's image was "promoted" to the "chairman of the board" by a new advertising campaign.