Blog #1: Annie the Chicken Queen

For this first assignment, I decided to focus on "Annie the Chicken Queen" from the commercials for Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. Annie is currently played by Deidrie Henry, a black woman who seems to be full of energy in every commercial she is in. Before I even begin to describe her, though, here's a commercial where she is behind the position of the conductor of a church choir:

Annie seems to be the nicest lady, doesn't she? She has the southern accent, the apron with her name tag stuck on the front, and a warm smile that would entice any viewer to want to purchase this chicken. She is dressed and plays the part that seems perfect for selling fried chicken. This brings up some food for thought, "Is Annie really that great at making food, or is that some sort of stereotype that we have established in our minds over time?" Perhaps there is more to Annie than just an image of warmth... Looking at her, people might start to think of characters like Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben, characters who were initially created with the intent that people would buy pancake mix and rice on the premise that happy, black slaves created the products.

This isn't just a random accusation, it truly seems like Annie is being portrayed in a way that is similar to Jemima. In fact, even though this commercial hasn't gone so far as to name her Aunt Annie, she isn't even given a proper surname. She is just Annie, not Ms. Something, just plain Annie. The intent, of course, seems to be to create a sense of trust so that people would want to purchase the chicken, but it just seems a bit racist to use Annie to sell the fried chicken when there are less offensive alternatives.