You’ve probably seen the orange box a thousand times. For decades, Uncle Ben’s rice was a permanent fixture in the "international" or "grains" aisle of basically every grocery store in America. It was reliable. It was fast. But then, in 2020, the bow-tied man on the box vanished.
Uncle Ben’s became Ben's Original.
It wasn't just a random marketing pivot or a bored executive's whim. This was a massive, multi-million dollar gamble by Mars, Incorporated. They had to weigh decades of brand equity against a shifting cultural landscape that no longer tolerated certain historical tropes. Honestly, if you grew up eating the parboiled long-grain stuff, the change might have felt sudden. But the tension behind that logo had been simmering for a long, long time.
The Reality Behind the Uncle Ben’s Identity
To understand why the name changed, you have to look at where it came from. Mars, Inc. didn't just pull the name out of thin air in the 1940s. The name "Uncle Ben" supposedly referred to a real person—a Gulf Coast rice farmer known for the high quality of his crops. The face on the box, however, belonged to Frank Brown, a well-known maître d’hôtel at a Chicago restaurant.
It sounds innocent enough until you dig into the linguistic history of the Jim Crow era.
In the American South, white people often used "Uncle" or "Aunt" as a way to address elderly Black people because they refused to afford them the respect of "Mr." or "Mrs." It was a diminutive. It was a way of enforcing a social hierarchy even in polite conversation. When you pair that title with an image of a man in a bow tie—a look closely associated with domestic servitude or "the help"—the brand starts to look less like a tribute to a farmer and more like a relic of a segregated past.
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Critics, historians, and activists had been pointing this out for years. It wasn't some new "woke" invention. The difference in 2020 was the sheer volume of the conversation following the George Floyd protests. Mars realized that being a "classic" brand wasn't a shield anymore; it was a liability.
Converting a Global Juggernaut to Ben’s Original
Changing a brand name isn't as simple as swapping a sticker. Think about the logistics. We are talking about thousands of factories, millions of boxes, and international distribution agreements across dozens of countries.
Mars Food didn't just want to drop the "Uncle." They wanted to signal a move toward "inclusion and equity." Fiona Dawson, who was the global president for Mars Food at the time, was very public about the fact that they knew they needed to evolve. They did extensive research. They talked to employees and consumers. The goal was to keep the "Ben" because that’s where the recognition lived, but strip away the baggage of the plantation-era terminology.
Interestingly, they didn't just change the name. They invested in the community. As part of the transition to Ben's Original, Mars launched the "Seat at the Table" scholarship fund. It’s a real-world initiative designed to help Black students pursue careers in the culinary arts. This was a smart business move. It moved the conversation from "We deleted a logo" to "We are actually funding the next generation of Black chefs."
What Most People Get Wrong About Parboiled Rice
Aside from the branding drama, there is a lot of confusion about what is actually inside the box. Is it "fake" rice? Is it pre-cooked?
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Basically, Uncle Ben’s—now Ben’s Original—pioneered a specific type of parboiling process. In the early 1940s, a chemist named Erich Huzenlaub and a food broker named Forrest Mars Sr. teamed up. They used a process that steams the rice while it’s still in the husk.
This does two things:
- It drives the nutrients (like B vitamins) from the bran into the grain itself.
- It gelatinizes the starch, which means the grains don't stick together.
That’s why your Ben's Original always comes out fluffy and individual rather than a clumpy mess. It’s technically "converted" rice. This was a massive deal for the U.S. military during World War II because it stayed fresh longer and resisted weevils. In fact, that's how the brand got its first big break—feeding the troops.
The Business Risk of the Name Change
Marketing experts were split on whether this would kill the brand. There is a psychological concept called "brand saliency." When you walk down an aisle at 6:00 PM on a Tuesday after a long work day, you aren't reading labels. You are looking for colors and shapes.
The bright orange box stayed. The font stayed mostly the same.
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By keeping the visual identity—the "trade dress"—largely intact while removing the "Uncle" and the portrait, Mars managed a soft landing. They didn't see a massive drop-off in sales. People still recognized the product. It’s a textbook example of how to handle a "reputational pivot" without alienating your entire customer base.
Compare this to the Aunt Jemima transition to Pearl Milling Company. That was a much harder shift because the name "Pearl Milling" had zero recognition for modern consumers. "Ben’s Original" felt like a nickname you already used.
Looking Ahead: The Future of the Grain Aisle
The rice market is changing. It's not just about 10-pound bags of white rice anymore. Today, the growth is in those 90-second microwaveable pouches. You’ve seen them—the ones that stand up on their own.
Mars is leaning heavily into this. They are focusing on flavors like Roasted Chicken, Jasmine, and Basmati. They are also trying to capture the health-conscious crowd with quinoa and farro blends. The branding change was just the first step in making the product feel modern enough for a Gen Z shopper who might be bothered by the old imagery but loves the convenience of a 90-second side dish.
How to Get the Best Results with Ben’s Original
If you're actually cooking with it, stop treating it like standard long-grain white rice. Because it's parboiled, it's tougher. It needs a little more liquid and a slightly longer simmer if you aren't using the "Ready Rice" pouches.
- Use a 2:1 ratio: Two parts water to one part rice.
- Don't peek: Keep the lid on. The steam is what does the work on those parboiled grains.
- Toast it: Honestly, if you sauté the dry rice in a little butter or oil before adding water, it brings out a nutty flavor that compensates for the lack of "fresh" starch.
The transition from Uncle Ben's to Ben’s Original is a case study in corporate survival. It shows that brands aren't static. They are living things that have to breathe and change with the people who buy them. Mars took a risk, and so far, it seems to have paid off by preserving the product's legacy while ditching its most problematic elements.
If you are looking to update your pantry or want to support brands that have moved toward more inclusive marketing, the next step is simple. Pay attention to the "converted" label on your rice. It tells you a lot more about the nutritional value and the cooking method than the logo ever did. Check the back of the package for the "Seat at the Table" logo to see exactly where a portion of those profits are currently being directed in the culinary world.