Amid a nationwide push for companies to drop racial stereotypes from their products, the makers of Eskimo Pie have announced a new name for its frozen dairy dessert.
About three months ago, Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream said in a statement that it would be rebranding the dessert after acknowledging the name the company had been using for nearly 100 years was "derogatory."
Starting in early 2021, the chocolate-covered vanilla ice cream bar will be called Edy's Pie.
"The name Edy’s Pie was chosen in honor of one of our company’s founders, candy maker Joseph Edy, as well as a form of tribute to the entrepreneurial origins of this treat," Elizabell Marquez, Head of Marketing for Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, said in a statement. "Our mission at Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream is to bring joy to everyday life with ice cream and we look forward to our Edy’s Pie frozen dairy bars continuing to do just that."
Along with a new name, the packaging will move away from its traditional use of a young boy dressed up using indigenous attire references.
According to the Alaska Native Language Center, the term "Eskimo" comes from an Ojibwa word meaning "to net snowshoes." The center says the term is commonly used in Alaska to refer to all Inuit and Yupik people of the world, but is considered derogatory in many other places. This is because the name was given by non-Inuit people. The word is also interpreted to mean "eater of raw meat."
The company added that it hopes to have Edy’s Pie frozen dairy bars back on store shelves by early 2021.
Marquez explained that the product was created more than 100 years ago after a candy store owner wanted to appease a boy's "indecision on whether to buy ice cream or a chocolate bar with his nickel." So, the ice cream bar covered in chocolate was created.
Edy’s Pie is just one of many products that has been renamed following the Black Lives Matters protests and racial injustice outcry over the police killing of George Floyd and other African Americans.
Quaker Oats announced in June that it would drop Aunt Jemima from syrup and pancake packages and Uncle Ben's rice brand is getting a new name: Ben's Original.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
