Dating to the 1960s, this group of TV commercials including Uncle Ben’s “new” quick cooking beans and Spanish and Wild rice mix with the tagline “Easy as boiling water?” Uncle Ben’s branding featured a smiling, grey-haired black man on its packaging. The name Uncle Ben’s was supposedly inspired by a Texas farmer known for his high-quality rice. The company asked the head waiter at a fancy Chicago restaurant, Frank Brown, to pose as the face of the brand, which launched in 1947. Titles such as uncle and aunt were used in southern US states to refer to black people, instead of the more formal and respectful “Miss” or “Mister”. In 2020, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, the owner of the brand announced that Uncle Ben would be retired “to make progress toward racial equality.”

Also on this reel, an ad for Polaroid Land instant cameras (2:56), Right Guard anti-perspirant, a preview for the movie Earth II (3:50), Ex-Lax (4:09), American Tourister luggage (4:45), Monsanto carpets (6:30), Alka Seltzer (7:00), Playtex gloves (7:50), Keds sneakers (8:30), Hills Brothers Coffee (10:15), and American Airlines (13:30).

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com