Are there are any other current American products named after stereotypes/slurs, like Scotch Tape (and maybe Scottish Inns)?

Factual Questions
1

I understand “Scotch Tape” was named so because of the stereotype of Scottish people being cheap, and it was perceived the makers of the tape were being cheap with the adhesive. I’ve also read that “Scottish Inns” were named so because they were budget-minded. (I only saw that in a Reddit thread, so I don’t know if that’s as well established as the Scotch Tape).

I didn’t know until adulthood about the Scottish=cheap stereotype and the Scotch Tape connection, so I wonder if there are other products out there currently with names after stereotypes/slurs?

There’s a line of frozen pizzas and calzones called “Screaming Sicilian”, maybe that counts. My father was a Sicilian, and he sure got angry and violent a lot. I practically had a PTSD episode the first time I saw that frozen pizza.

2

Not necessarily a product, but Notre Dame University’s sports teams have the nickname “The Fighting Irish,” which some consider to be reflective of an old stereotype of the Irish as drunken brawlers.

3

I did not know that.

The brand name Scotch came about while Drew was testing his first masking tape to determine how much adhesive he needed to add. The body shop painter became frustrated with the sample masking tape and exclaimed, “Take this tape back to those Scotch bosses of yours and tell them to put more adhesive on it!” The name was soon applied to the entire line of 3M tapes.

4

Quaker Oats.

Source.

If Canada is American enough, then Old Dutch cleaning products might count.

Source.

China Doll rice might count, too, but I can’t find much information on the company.

5

facepalm I worked for Quaker Oats for several years; I should have remembered that one straight away. My understanding is that the Religious Society of Friends (the Quakers) has never been happy about the company’s name, and has tried, from time to time, to either get the company to change its name, or protest use of the “Quaker Man” in ways that might be seen as promoting violence.

6

Glad that Aunt Jemima products were renamed to Pearl Milling Company and Uncle Ben’s to Ben’s Original.

7

Germany is not the USA, obviously, but there are so many things here that are called Mc-This or Mäc-That suggesting stinginess (the first price goes to Mäc Geiz, literally translated as McStingy or McMiser) implying that something is very cheap that I must mention it. Also McFit, for cheap fitness centers. McGünstig for cheap special items trade. McPfenning (Pfennig = Penny), spottbillig, cheapest cheap again. Could go on for ages.
Now make of McDonalds what you want, Germans will tend to assotiate it with cheap because they are conditioned this way.

8

One of my favorite furniture styles is Shaker.

The Shakers (a/k/a United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing) got their nickname because of the way they danced at their Sabbath services:

So … is that a product or a people ? One would (wood ?) wonder.

9

The Shaker Style of furniture means the actual style of furniture made by Shakers. They were well known for their wood-working skills and the modest construction and styling of furniture that countered the more ornate style of fine furniture that was popular at the time. It’s neither a stereotype or slur, although possibly non-applicable to everything labeled with the name.

10

A Shaker woman (Tabitha Babbitt) is generally credited with inventing the large circular saws used in sawmills.

I always assumed that Scotsman ice machines are so named because they are economical to operate.

11

Here is an interesting section of a wiki about this. Take a look at this cite regarding trademarks that closes a referential circle:

12

I was poking around the 'net regarding this topic when I came across this tidbit of info. Truth be known, I don’t think I was aware of this name change.

13

Do you have Welsh rarebit (melted cheese on toast) in America? Apparently the name was originally “Welsh rabbit”, being considered an inferior and cheaper substitute for actual rabbit meat.

14

We do, though in my experience, it’s not a common dish here.

15

Relatively recent, but there was an Academy Award winning movie whose title was a racist term.

Shine

However, the racist version of the word died out by 1950. No one said anything about it.

16

I had always assumed that the Mc… moniker for businesses in Germany came from the reputation of McDonald’s as cheap, but fast and satisfying food, before I heard the theory (I think in a youtube video by an American expat living in Germany) that it may be based on the alleged stinginess of Scottish people. Yes, the existence of this prejudice can be confirmed by countless German Scots jokes (though you can swap Scot for Swabian and they remain the same jokes), but I still think McD’s is the culprit.

17

In Hawaii we call linquisa (Portuguese sausage) portagee (po-ta-gi) sausage and Chinese tea cookies, pake (pa-kay) cookies or pake cake. Neither term is really a slur, but pidgin English terms developed out of the necessity for the multi-ethnic immigrants to communicate with each other.

18

MacFrugals (closeout retail stores) were bought out by Big Lots.

And SNL made fun of James Bond for being cheap.

19

Juan Valdez coffee? It’s still available.

20

While the Juan Valdez character was invented by an American ad agency for the American market, it was for the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia which entirely owned and operated by Colombian coffee growers. The person currently playing Juan Valdez is Carlos Castañeda who is in fact an actual coffee grower. If he’s a stereotype, then it’s one being pushed by the Colombians themselves. Also, he’s marketing a Colombian product, not an American one.