Mrs. Butterworth's

Mrs. Butterworth's is an American brand of table syrups and pancake mixes owned by Conagra Brands. The syrups come in distinctive bottles shaped as the character "Mrs. Butterworth", represented in the form of a "matronly" woman. The syrup was introduced in 1961. In 1999, the original glass bottles began to be replaced with plastic. In 2009, the character was given the first name "Joy" following a contest held by the company.

Advertising

One of the main voice actresses for Mrs. Butterworth was Mary Kay Bergman. She was also voiced by Hope Summers during the early to late 1970s.

Kim Fields appeared in a commercial for the product during the late-1970s.

In 2007, Mrs. Butterworth was used in a series of ads for GEICO, in which she helped an actual customer with her testimonial.

In 2019, she appeared along with an actor playing Colonel Sanders in a KFC commercial spoofing a scene from ''Dirty Dancing'', promoting chicken and waffles using Mrs. Butterworth's syrup.

Controversy

In 2020, following protests over systemic racism, Conagra Brands announced that it would review the shape of their bottles, as critics viewed them as an example of the "mammy" stereotype. A competing brand, Aunt Jemima, revamped its brand and advertising following the attention on negative black stereotypes. In ads, Mrs. Butterworth's voice has evoked a grandmotherly white woman, and she has been portrayed by white voice actresses. Despite this, some reports had claimed, without citing any sources, that the character was originally modeled on Butterfly McQueen, a black actress who appeared as the maid in ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939).

As of 2025, Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup is still being sold with the familiar bottle shape, despite the “brand review” Conagra announced it would conduct back in 2020.

In popular culture

In 2005, Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco made reference to the brand on Kanye West's " Touch the Sky," with the lyric "bottle-shaped body like Mrs. Butterworth".

In 2009, then-parent company Pinnacle Foods held a "first name contest" for the product's spokesperson; the winning name was "Joy", making the full name Joy Butterworth. The character appears in the 2012 American film '' Foodfight!'', voiced by Edie McClurg.

In 2013, during episode 12 of the ninth season of ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', Ryan Stiles uses comedian Nyima Funk as a bottle of Mrs. Butterworth's to pour onto Colin Mochrie's imaginary waffles during a game of "Living Scenery".

In 2017, she made a cameo appearance in the ''Family Guy'' episode "A House Full of Peters".

See also

* Breakfast
* French toast
* List of syrups
* Waffles
* Betty Crocker

References

External links

*

Syrup
Baking mixes
Female characters in advertising
Food advertising characters
Products introduced in 1961
Pinnacle Foods brands
Race-related controversies in advertising and marketing

{{food-product-stub