Owner of Eskimo Pie ice cream will change ‘inappropriate’ name

Eskimo Pie is getting a new name.

The name attached to the chocolate-covered ice cream dessert that first appeared on the market in 1921 will soon be retired, according to Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, which owns the product.

Dreyer’s said it will overhaul the name and marketing of the product, which has been targeted as racially or culturally offensive, The New York Times reported.

Eskimo Pie is the latest product to remove or rethink its branding, joining products such as Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben’s. Mrs. Butterworth and Cream of Wheat are in the process of reviewing their company logos and marketing campaigns.

The trend was sparked by demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks and other African Americans at the hands of police, the Times reported.

“We are committed to being a part of the solution on racial equality, and recognize the term is inappropriate,” Elizabell Marquez, head of marketing for Dreyer’s, said in a statement Saturday. “This move is part of a larger review to ensure our company and brands reflect our people values.”

The company said it planned to have a new name by the end of the year and would discontinue the character of the Eskimo.

Eskimo Pie was patented by Christian Kent Nelson and his business partner,Russell C. Stover, in 1922, according to Smithsonian Magazine.

The name “Eskimo” is commonly used in Alaska to refer to Inuit and Yupik people, according to the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska.

“This name is considered derogatory in many other places because it was given by non-Inuit people and was said to mean ‘eater of raw meat,’” the center said.

For many years, packaging for Eskimo Pie has featured a small, dark-haired child wearing mittens and a heavy parka, the Times reported.

Nestle sold Dreyer’s and the rest of its U.S. ice cream brands to Froneri for $4 billion in 2019, CNN reported.

Cox Media Group