Apr 01
In this New York Times article about the re-imaging of advertising icon Uncle Ben (of the rice) as “an accomplished businessman with an opulent office, a busy schedule, an extensive travel itinerary and a penchant for sharing what the company calls his “grains of wisdom” about rice and life”, the president of the food division at the company that produces Uncle Ben’s Rice says:
What’s powerful to me is to show an African-American icon in a position of prominence and authority. As an African-American, he [Ben] makes me feel so proud.
Which I think is slightly ridiculous and surreal, because dude, Uncle Ben is a character contrived by marketing people to sell rice. Whether he’s in a boardroom or on a cotton plantation, it’s rather silly to talk about being “proud” of him, because he is not a real person.
[link via kottke]
Maybe they’ll change the quaker’s oats lady too
jdid · April 02, 2007
I did a post on Uncle Ben about a year ago. I found out that Uncle Ben was definitely invented to do just what you said…sale rice.
I also discovered that he was real, but the face on the box was used to fit the image.
http://civileyes.blogspot.com/search?q=uncle+ben
Stephen Bess · April 09, 2007