Aunt Jemima Trends on BrandGraph® After Announcing They're Rebranding

PepsiCo announced their brand Aunt Jemima is going to be renamed Pearl Milling Company. For decades, Aunt Jemima’s branding has been criticized for using stereotypical slave mammy imagery. This rebranding of Aunt Jemima has been a year in the making. During the Black Lives Matter protests and social-unrest in June 2020, Quaker Oats decided to retire images of Aunt Jemima. Quaker Oats also announced the brand’s name would change at a later date. In June 2021, Aunt Jemima will officially become Pearl Milling Company, a year after Quaker Oats teased the rebranding idea. BrandGraph, IZEA’s social intelligence platform, recorded a spike in social media content and engagement for Aunt Jemima as people across the world react to the rebranding.

Also trending this week on BrandGraph were brands like Bumble and the Dallas Mavericks. BrandGraph tracks and records the performance of these brands across social media platforms. See what got these brands trending by taking a closer look at the Top Trending Brands for this week:

Trending Brands for the Week of February 8, 2021

Aunt Jemima
Bumble
Dallas Mavericks
The Mandalorian
Gorilla Glue

Aunt Jemima

On Feb 9, 2021, PepsiCo advertised the complete rebranding of Aunt Jemima. The brand is finally getting a new name after removing all imagery of the Aunt Jemima character in 2020. The renaming news caused Aunt Jemima to trend on BrandGraph and on social media. People are taking to social media to express their thoughts on what is now the Pearl Milling Company. Some believe this is a step in the right direction in ending racists practices in advertising and marketing. Others argue nothing was wrong with the Aunt Jemima character in the first place.

Bumble

Dating app Bumble trended on social media this past week after going public on the NASDAQ exchange. Fans and users of the app are celebrating the companies millstone. And to congratulate Bumble’s CEO and founder Whitney Wolfe. Wolfe started Bumble in 2014 after leaving Tinder. Bumble differs from other dating and social apps because women have to message first (in heterosexual matches). After going public, Wolfe became the world’s youngest self-made woman billionaire. She is also the youngest female CEO to ever take a company public in the U.S. at 31.

Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks were trending after owner Mark Cuban confirmed the organization has stopped playing the national anthem. The Mavericks trend on social media and BrandGraph with reactions to the news. The national anthem didn’t play for 13 of the Mavericks preseason and regular-season home games. Cuban’s controversial decision is met with mixed reactions. Some social media users argue not playing the national anthem is disrespectful to the country and veterans. While others say playing the national anthem is an outdated tradition that does not reflect our love for the United States.

The Mandalorian

The Mandalorian actress, Gina Carano, was fired from the show on Feb 10, 2021. Carano shared tweets comparing disliking someone for their political views to the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust. Carano is open about her conservative political beliefs on social media and even supported voter-fraud claims in the 2020 elections. Fans of The Mandalorian show started the hashtag #FireGinaCarano in response to her tweets. Soon after a Lucasfilms rep confirmed the actress won’t be returning to the Disney+ series.

Gorilla Glue

Early Feb, a TikTok of Tessica Brown went viral. Brown originally went online to ask for help after using Gorilla Glue as hairspray. She couldn’t wash the strong adhesive out and ended up in the ER. Eventually, Brown flew to California, where a plastic surgeon developed a solution to remove the glue from her hair. Gorilla Glue trends on social media and BrandGraph as people discuss the sticky event. Some feel that Brown was crazy for using Gorilla Glue as hairspray. However, others believe the company should be held responsible.