Uncle Ben's rice gets a new name and 'more equitable iconography'

Uncle Ben's rice has undergone a rebranding.

Mars Food on Wednesday announced it's removing the image from the packaging of its Uncle Ben's rice brand and changing its name to Ben's Original, NBC News and CNN report. The company had in June said it would tweak the product's branding amid the nationwide protests against racial injustice sparked by the police killing of George Floyd.

Previously, the rice brand's logo had showed a "possibly fictitious Black rice farmer" using a portrait of "Frank Brown, head waiter at an exclusive Chicago restaurant," CNN writes. Mars Food Global President Fiona Dawson explained to CNN that "for some, it clearly had overtones of servitude, and that is not the brand that we want to represent." Dawson added that "there's no place for anything in this world that hints at social injustice."

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Mars in its announcement also said "we understand the inequities that were associated with the name and face of the previous brand" and will be "removing the image on the packaging to create more equitable iconography." Mars said the new packaging will be in stores by next year.

Uncle Ben's rice was one of a number of products that was announced to be getting a rebranding earlier this year, including Aunt Jemima. Quaker Oats said in June it would be rebranding Aunt Jemima and changing the logo because its "origins are based on a racial stereotype," but the company has not yet unveiled the rebranded version.