The next time customers go to purchase some Land O’Lakes butter, the packaging might look a bit different. That’s because the company is moving in a new direction and dropping Mia, who is the Native American ‘Butter Maiden’, from its logo. The move will be reflected on new shipments this month. It also also comes before the company’s 101st anniversary.
In a statement released on Friday, Land O’Lakes described their decision by noting that they wanted to reflect a new change and develop a package that better demonstrates their foundation “heart of our company culture.” In its place, new packaging will feature a new phrase, “Farmer-Owned” and depending on the product, will feature images designated for certain items that feature real farmers from the company’s history. A tagline will also read, “Since 1921′ and ‘Proud to be Farmer-Owned: As a farmer-owned co-op, we stand together to bring you the very best in dairy.”
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Land O’Lakes Removes American Indian ‘Butter Maiden’ From Packaging #foodRecipe pic.twitter.com/defPs6mwrL
— Meena Bhatiya (@MeenaBhatiya) April 16, 2020
President and CEO Beth Ford explained the company’s decision to make the switch. “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,” Ford said. “Our farmer-to-fork structure gives us a unique ability to bridge this divide.”
No other information was given about the reason to remove Mia, which has often been criticized for being racist. Nonetheless, the decision to remove the Native American seems to be going over well across social media.
“Native women disproportionately suffer from sexual assault, domestic violence, and homicide #MMIW,” one user wrote on Twitter. “Thank you for removing hypersexualized, subservient, stereotypical imagery of an “Indian maiden” from butter.”
“Thank you to Land O’Lakes for making this important and needed change,” another tweet read. “Native people are not mascots or logos. We are very much still here.”
Even actor George Takei got in on the action and shared his input on the company’s decision to move in a new direction with their logo and packaging. The Star Trek actor wrote on Twitter that it was “a wise decision” by Land O’Lakes.
The company was founded back in 1921 and is based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The name the business decided on was due to the state’s nickname being “Land of 10,000 Lakes” and with their first butter product taking on that name before eventually becoming the company moniker after previously being called the Minnesota Cooperative Creameries Association.
Another recent organization to undergo a new logo change is in the football world where the Los Angeles Rams shared their new look.
