Eskimo Pies is the latest brand to drop their name over racial insensitivity that its product highlights. Eskimo Pies are the beloved chocolate covered vanilla ice cream bars that have been around for 99 years. The imagery promoting the product shows a young Eskimo boy dressed up in his native outfit showcasing Eskimo Pies, which are ice cream treats, a nod to the climate Eskimos are known to live in, a cold, icy tundra. A statement was put out by the owner of the brand, Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, saying this about the rebranding of Eskimo Pies: “We are committed to being a part of the solution on racial equality, and recognize the term is derogatory. This move is part of a larger review to ensure our company and brands reflect our people values."
This is an image of Eskimo Pies for those not familiar with it:
The argument about Eskimo Pies is that the term "Eskimo" is not a term created by the very people the term is describing. According to the Alaska Native Language Center, "the word has been used interchangeably to describe both the Inuit and Yupik indigenous peoples. The name has been seen as disparaging, as it was bestowed up on the groups by non-Inuits and its original meaning was "eater of raw meat." If this is true, that Eskimos did not originally create the term to describe themselves and somewhat find it offensive, then we need investigate that further and actually find out if it's an offensive term or if we are prematurely believing it's offensive because one person or organization deems it to be so.
When first asking me if I had to vote on changing the name of Eskimo Pies or not I would say keep the name! Now, maybe I'm naive and ignorant of not knowing any offense attached to the name but if that is the case, we need to actually hear from the group in question here and if they come out saying it's derogatory, then we have a bigger case. What do you think? I say it's marketing at it's best for marketing these cold ice cream treats!
-Producer Lightning