Someone at Stollwerck/Sprengel has finally decided to "modernize" the Sarotti Moor. Here's the FAZ's take.
Statt der blau-roten Fahne, die er seit jeher vor sich hertrug, soll der Mohr mit fünf goldenen Sternen jonglieren, in einem goldenen Halbmond stehen und - hellhäutig sein. Das Nichtnegerlein, der Entmohrte, kurz: die Figur, läßt uns Richard Crux, Chef von Stollwerck, wissen, wirke dadurch "magischer und - wir ergänzen: zugleich - moderner".
The current trademark looks very fin-de-siecle, and I admit that it appeals to some warped love I have for old-style commercial design. Apparently a lot of people love him, because the "Little Moor" way outlasted his time, given that he embodies an incredibly racist stereotype. But I have always been astonished at the frequency of such images in Germany, in Europe more generally, I guess. They've been slower to change there than here.
So now the company is making him light-skinned; couldn't find an example on their webpage, and I suppose it'll take a while for it to filter out into the market, unless they do a big push. But it's a very interesting case study of image modification.
Posted by Heather at February 6, 2004 09:30 AM
Comments
Heather,
Dr. Libby Otto gave me the link to this - she and I met in DC, and your site is quite engaging. I will keep reading it - best wishes-
Pete
Posted by: Pete at February 6, 2004 02:24 PM
(Hi again Heather! Just heard about your blog...)
This is the third major transformation for the Sarotti moor, actually...!
(The original moor was trademarked towards the end of the First World War--an orientalizing riff on the racist imagery of Africans so popular in Germany just before 1914.
In the '20s, Sarotti played with the design quite a bit (even offering Jugendstil and Rococo-inspired versions), but almost always keeping the racial elements (wide eyes, huge lips), and in some cases, exaggerating them to an even more extreme degree. (The flag first appeared in the '20s...)
When Nestle bought Sarotti in the early '70s, the central icon was "de-racialized": the figure was turned sideways--into a silhouette, and so dropping the huge red lips, wide eyes.
Now it's being "lightened"? Interesting...!
(But not totally unexpected?... given the continuing erosion of "blackness" as a comfortable (and safely-distant) marker of "the exotic" in Germany since the mid-1980s...?)
Posted by: David Ciarlo at February 27, 2004 11:15 AM
This is a message for David Ciarlo regarding his post on February 27.
Dear David,
my name is Isabell Cserno, and I am a Ph.D. student in the Department of American Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. Part of my dissertation deals with the image of the Sarotti-Mohr and his original designer Juluis Gipkens and the changes of the Sarotti-Mohr in the course of the 20th century.
I took the liberty to send you this email, because I came accross your posting regarding the planned changes in the trademark icon and your very detailed comments on the changes in design throughout the 20th century. I am very intereted in learning more about your views on this issue and would very much appreciate it if you will engage in an email conversation with me about this topic.
My email address is cserno@wam.umd.edu I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerley,
Isabell Cserno
Posted by: Isabell Cserno at October 7, 2004 12:14 PM