Flavory Avery

?             ?               ?                ?                   ?                 ?               ?   If you couldn't guess, GUESS is the topic of my blog this week. It is an international clothing brand that has recently come under fire for profiting off designs used without consent from world renown graffiti artist Banksy. GUESS operates 1,500 retail stores in the Americas, Europe and Asia. It was initially established in 1981 by the Marciano brothers as a jeans company, but has successfully expanded into a lifestyle brand overtime by combining the legendary glamour of  Hollywood with inspiration from natural French chic style. GUESS advertising has become iconic from utilizing a sexy, spirited, Americana black and white ...

 A Sticky Situation  In June 2020, amid the national reckoning over racism that followed the death of George Floyd, The Quaker Oats Company, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, Inc., announced its plans to change the name of its nationally recognized brand Aunt Jemima, as well as remover her imagery from its packaging. Both symbols have been part of the brand's history and legacy for over 130 years, however, Kristin Kroepfl, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Quaker Foods North America states "we recognize Aunt Jemima's origins are based on a racial stereotype. While work has been done over the years to update the brand in a manner intended to be appropriate and respectful, we realize those changes are not enough. As we work to make progress toward racial equality through several initiatives, we also must take a hard look at our portfolio of brands and ensure they reflect our values and meet our consumers' expectations (The Quaker Oats Company, 2020)."  Before the r...