You might start to notice something a little
bit different on the shelves of the dairy
aisle over the next few months.
Land O'Lakes, America's best-selling butter
brand according to Food & Wine, sent out a
press release in February announcing a major
redesign of its packaging to celebrate its
upcoming centennial.
Company CEO Beth Ford said in the release,
"As Land O'Lakes looks toward our 100th anniversary,
we've recognized we need packaging that reflects
the foundation and heart of our company culture."
The new packaging is certainly very tasteful,
retaining the green trees and sky-blue waters
reminiscent of the company's home state of
Minnesota.
But there's an obvious missing element: the
famous Butter Maiden, a Native American mascot
who, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer
Press, went by the name of Mia.
While Land O'Lakes did not publicly kill her
off like Planters did with Mr. Peanut, its
designers quietly removed her from the box.
So why, apart from the anniversary celebration,
did Land O'Lakes take such a major rebranding
step?
While the corporate spokespeople give one
reason, media reports seem to favor another
possible explanation.
Ford's official explanation was that the company
wanted to give a shout-out to the dairy farmers
who make the company's products.
Land O'Lakes was founded in 1921 by a group
of Minnesota dairy farmers.
"Nearly a century ago, Land O'Lakes was formed
by farmers, for farmers."
The company is still, nearly 100 years later,
a farmer-owned cooperative.
As Ford explained in the press release,
"As a farmer-owned co-op, we strongly feel
the need to better connect the men and women
who grow our food with those who consume it."
In recent years, Land O'Lakes has released
several advertisements and a music video starring
some of the real dairy farmers in the cooperative.
Future plans include adorning butter boxes
with photos of various Land O'Lakes farmers,
much in the way Wheaties boxes famously feature
images of star athletes.
The packaging right now features just the
illustration of the lake and trees.
Photos or not, the words "Farmer-Owned" will
be prominently featured on each label.
Nobody has beef with Land O'Lakes buttering
up dairy farmers, particularly when the industry
is in a bit of a freefall as milk prices reach
new lows.
Some media observers are speculating, though,
that Land O'Lakes' real reason for the packaging
change may have been a wish to disassociate
itself from a symbol many people consider
outdated and culturally insensitive.
North Dakota state Rep. Ruth Buffalo, a Democrat
from Fargo and a member of the Mandan, Hidatsa,
and Arikara Nation, argued that the Butter
Maiden is not only an insensitive portrayal
of a Native American, but is also presented
in a suggestive manner.
She told the Pioneer Press,
"We as a whole need to keep pushing forward
to address the underlying issues that directly
impact an entire population that survived
genocide."
The change in packaging has been well-received
by members of the Native American community.
Kevin Allis, chief executive of the National
Congress of American Indians, told The New
York Times that
"Discarding antiquated symbols like this [is]
a step in the right direction...[The NCAI]
encourage[s] all companies that peddle products
displaying stereotypical Native 'themed' imagery
to follow suit."
Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan,
a citizen of the White Earth Nation of Ojibwe,
tweeted her gratitude to one of her state's
largest companies:
"Thank you to Land O'Lakes for making this
important and needed change.
Native people are not mascots or logos.
We are very much still here."
Mia dates back to 1928, when illustrator Arthur
C. Hanson came up with an image meant to evoke
rural Minnesota: a blue lake, green pine trees,
and a human mascot, which was common among
food brands of the era.
He chose to depict a Native American woman
in a buckskin dress kneeling and holding up
a box of the product.
The design was tweaked in 1939 and again in
the 1950s, when Minnesota Ojibwe artist Patrick
DesJarlait had a hand in the character's makeover.
In more recent years, Land O'Lakes chose to
use only part of the image, showing Mia from
the shoulders up, de-emphasizing that she
was kneeling in what could be seen as a subservient
posture.
Whatever the true reason for her removal,
honoring dairy farmers, a nod to cultural
sensitivity or both, she won't be on your
local grocer's shelves much longer.
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