Eskimo Pie Ice Cream Rebrands as Edy’s Pie, Calls Former Name ‘Derogatory’

Eskimo Pie will rebrand as “Edy’s Pie” in an effort to shed what it claims seen as a “derogatory” name, the company announced Sunday.

CNN reports:

Beginning early 2021, the chocolate-covered vanilla ice cream bar will be called Edy’s Pie, a nod to one of the company’s founders, Joseph Edy. It’s also a familiar name to many because its maker, Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, markets food under the Edy’s name on the U.S. East Coast.

The name “Eskimo” has long been used by non-native groups to refer collectively to Inuit and Yupik people, according to the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska.

[…]

Linguists also say the word has another origin, based on a word meaning “to net snowshoes,” the language center said on its website.

“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 company 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 ice cream bars continuing to do just that,” the statement added.

In June, the ice cream maker first announced plans to change its name, citing its commitment to “being a part of the solution on racial equality.”

Quaker Foods, the company behind the Aunt Jemima brand of syrup, also announced in June that it would rename its brand and no longer use its storied image of an African-American woman in order to “make progress toward racial equality.”

“We recognize Aunt Jemima’s origins are based on a racial stereotype,” Kristin Kroepfl, vice president and chief marketing officer of Quaker Foods North America, said in a statement at the time. “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.”

However, not everyone was happy with Quaker Foods’ announcement.

A great-grandson of Aunt Jemima said his family legacy will be “erased” due to to plans to discontinue the brand.

“This is an injustice for me and my family. This is part of my history, sir,” Larnell Evans Sr. told Patch.com. “The racism they talk about, using images from slavery, that comes from the other side — white people.”