Posted on 08/11/2014 12:43:32 PM PDT by Citizen Zed
The great-grandsons of a woman who depicted "Aunt Jemima" want $2 billion from the companies whose pancake products bear her name.
The two men accuse Quaker Oats, Quaker's parent company PepsiCo and Pinnacle Foods of theft of royalties, fraud and racial discrimination.
Quaker Oats is the maker of Aunt Jemima pancake mixes and syrup. Pinnacle Foods currently makes Aunt Jemima frozen pancakes, waffles and French toast.
In their suit, D.W. Hunter and Larnell Evans say Quaker Oats representatives discovered their great-grandmother making pancakes at the New York State Fair in 1935. Anna S. Harrington portrayed the character in commercials and other public appearances for 15 years.
The suit says Quaker used Harrington's pancake recipes and trademarked her likeness as the character "Aunt Jemima" in 1937.
The great-grandsons say Quaker exploited Harrington with the intent of not paying royalties toward her estate after her death in 1955. They claim the companies conspired not to acknowledge Harrington's status as an employee of Quaker Oats by saying they could not find any employment records or images of her. But they say, Quaker had her image deposited with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
(Excerpt) Read more at m.wgal.com ...
Unfortunately, too many suits are ‘nuisance’ suits, filed just to force a settlement, whether with or without merit. Litigation is too expensive for most people, and too damaging for most corporations. Easier to pay folks to walk away.
One of the problems with this is that these suits clog up the courts for those meritorious cases that should be litigated.
Although SHE's been dead since 1941; the best HER grandkids ever got was a bit part in City Slickers!
Our case has been languishing in the system for YEARS.
Our new lawyer has promised to get things moooooooving along.
I wonder if Rachel Corrie's parents have sued yet?
Statute of limitations should have expired at least the middle of last century.
"There's no such thing as bad PR."
De nada
“I don’t always eat pancakes; but when I do...
Well!! Ain’t THIS a geographical oddity!?
That’s what I thought.
Ya got CAFFINE in the dough!
Oh, you mean like that black woman on the Popeye’s Chicken commercial with the accent? PC or not, that woman solidified my ban on their chicken.
She died in 1955, and they are suing now?
How much dough do you think they'll get?
Didn't turn out too wholesome though.
CC
99 94/100% pure just didn’t quite cut it.
I think 40% is the going rate for a “speculative” lawsuit.
Stuff like this is why we need loser pays.
About as absurd as a Lemonade recipe.
Lemon, Sugar, Water.
That’s what I was thinking about. They’ve changed the image several times, so I’m not sure how this would realte to their relative. On the other hand, the new image is ridiculous, they always try to “update” it and make it seem “younger,” but I just look at that new image and think she probably doesn’t know how to cook. “Aunt Jemima” indeed? Seem with the new image of the Colonel, or Mr. Clean. They’re just not believable.
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