‘Aunt Jemima’ Descendants Want Royalties From Quaker Oats


Will Aunt Jemima’s relatives flatten their legal foes like a pancake?

The great grandsons of the woman whose likeness became Aunt Jemima is suing Quaker Oats for $2 billion in royalties.

The class-action lawsuit filed in Chicago federal court on behalf of all of Anna Short Harrington’s great grandchildren also names PepsiCo. Inc., Quaker Oats’ parent company, and Pinnacle Foods.

Quaker Oats produces the iconic Aunt Jemima-branded pancake mixes, syrup, and other related products, while Pinnacle has a license to sell Aunt Jemima frozen pancakes, waffles, and French toast.

The plaintiffs claim that the companies essentially cheated Mrs. Harrington, their great grandmother, from royalties or any percentage of sales while the firms made millions using her image on boxes of breakfast food, and even back in the day allegedly used her pancake recipes. Quaker Oats allegedly talked Mrs. Harrington out of getting a lawyer at the time so they could take advantage of her.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the lawsuit “alleges that the companies conspired to deny that Harrington had been an employee of Quaker Oats, all the while exploiting her image and recipes for profit, while refusing to pay an ‘equitable fair share of royalties’ to her heirs for more than 60 years. The claims come on the heels of the defendants allegedly receiving a certified death certificate for Harrington that listed Quaker Oats as her employer.”

Quaker Oats registered the Aunt Jemima Trademark in 1937, reportedly two years after Harrington assumed the role, according to Fortune: “The lawsuit alleges that Quaker Oats recruited Harrington as she cooked pancakes at the New York State Fair, after which the company used her recipes and trademarked her likeness as Aunt Jemima.”

The lawsuit also reportedly alleges “a racial element to the exploitation of Harrington and the other women who portrayed Aunt Jemima.”

The company allegedly used the likeness of Harrington’s youngest daughter to update the brand packaging in 1989, Fox News reports.

Quaker Oats has insisted that the Aunt Jemima lawsuit has no merit.

[image credit: theimpulsivebuy]

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