“Aunt Jemima is Alive and Cookin’?” An Advertiser’s Dilemma of Competing Collective Memories

Abstract

This article discusses how a proposed advertising theme created a strategic and public relations dilemma for a team of modern-day marketing executives when viewed in the context of the promotional history of the Aunt Jemima brand. Using collective memory theory as a framework, this article explores alternative perspectives of the brand’s image among black and white consumers in light of a controversial proposed advertising theme. Archival records housed in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History allow for a reconstruction of the executives’ decision scenario, ramifications of the advertising strategy, and a discussion of implications for contemporary practitioners.