Smiles Under

The Fluorescents

Bri Jimmerson 

Smiles Under the Fluorescents is an educational poster series that uses imagery and typography to confront a long-overdue cultural reckoning. This series examines how American food branding has used African American imagery to turn everyday family meals into racialized performance. The smiles you see on food packaging such as Aunt Jemima, Cream of Wheat, Uncle Ben, and Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup bottles all have one thing in common: they depict Black people.    

  These brands removed these caricatures during the 2020-21 pandemic. On May 25th, 2020, George Floyd was murdered by a white officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Rather than signaling meaningful reckoning, these brands dropped the imagery in response to mounting public pressure, acting expediently to avoid reputational harm and declining profits. This moment aligns with the principles of Critical Race Theory. Derrick Bell argues that racism is an essential and foundational force in American society. ¹ Given that the system was built by and for white elites, racial progress for marginalized groups is frequently advanced only when it serves white interests.   

Smiles Under the Fluorescents aims to educate viewers and expose the harms of these racial stereotypes that were used to stand for and promote “delicious food” products. Whether it is in a lively kitchen or an innocent grocery store, those bright fluorescent lights occasionally flicker or dim a bit. To appease white society, these “faithful” and “loyal” Black figures were everyday butlers, cooks, child-caretakers, and field workers. Those images became familiar. That kind of branding became normalized. Exposing history through “archival” or “vintage” brand designs and the use of typography helps bring awareness. These companies can erase the design, but they cannot erase history. They cannot erase the pain.