Is it my imagination, but has Uncle Ben had a face lift? I was reading my Sunday paper pull-outs and saw an ad for Uncle Ben’s Rice. The headline said: “My rice does for a meal, what a bow tie does for a suit jacket.”…Ben knows best.
The ad itself didn’t blow me away but the photo of Uncle Ben was what caught my eye. I know they researched this ad to death to insure it didn’t offend Black folks, but something is off for me.
Could it be that they are trying to reposition Uncle Ben as a real uncle and not the cook on the plantation? Or could it be that this piece of communication makes Uncle Ben the arbiter of what good rice is (obviously his)?
I’ve always believed that the consumer should be the quality or taste expert, not the product.
