Butter spin-off: Land O'Lakes removes native woman from the packaging

[LSUmiss]

What’s crazy about it being on there? It’s to bad it’s being removed. What’s next? Paul Newman? Aunt Jemima? La Negrita products? The leprechaun off of cereal.

Just in this day I was surprised it still was.

 

[loves to dive]

I had to look in my fridge and see if it was still on the packages we have. That's how much attention I pay to labels when I buy thing. I've bought land olakes for years and I guess I knew it was there but don't really care one way or the other as long as the product is the same.

 

[bcla]

I think it actually makes sense. After all the Native Americans didn’t raise cattle or churn butter!

There was another one where removal did spark protests - when Alaska Airlines was talking about removing the "Eskimo" from their livery. But they didn't portray

 

[ronandannette]

You aren't on Facebook or twitter, are you? lol There are plenty of people outraged about why the company is no longer portraying a racist image.

No, actually I'm not, nor is that brand of butter sold in Canada. I have seen the packaging before though and when I saw the new one in this thread, it really is something I'd totally fail to notice even if it was something I bought regularly. I get the concept you're describing though. Before Covid rendered practically all other concerns meaningless, there was quite a storm brewing over whether or not a team in the CFL should be renamed even though they had been called the Edmonton Eskimos since the league's inception. As I remember the press at the time, very few actual eskimos (who have now been referred to as Inuit for decades) object to the team's name; it was actually sort of a point-of-pride.

 

[L&Lfan]

Do Eskimo Pies still have an Eskimo on the paper? I’m old enough to remember Rice Crinkles with the Asian guy on the box. And of course Rastus on Cream of Wheat. I hated when they made Betty Crocker look like a soccer Mom wearing Mom jeans. I thought it was neater when she looked like June Cleaver.

 

[ronandannette]

Do Eskimo Pies still have an Eskimo on the paper? I’m old enough to remember Rice Crinkles with the Asian guy on the box. And of course Rastus on Cream of Wheat. I hated when they made Betty Crocker look like a soccer Mom wearing Mom jeans. I thought it was neater when she looked like June Cleaver.

You would probably be great in a trivia contest. I couldn't tell you who-or-what is on the labels of practically anything - even stuff I've been buying routinely for years.

 

[fla4fun]

I think just having the lake and trees on the box kind of fits with the name Land O Lakes. It doesn’t really need anything else.

But, then, I buy Publix store brand butter, which has packaging about as plain as you can make it. I tend to look at the price tags more than the packaging.

 

[L&Lfan]

You would probably be great in a trivia contest. I couldn't tell you who-or-what is on the labels of practically anything - even stuff I've been buying routinely for years.

Annette, I chalk it up to being a child during the golden age of TV advertising and commercial jingles! I watched A LOT of TV during the ‘60s and ‘70s!

 

[ronandannette]

Annette, I chalk it up to being a child during the golden age of TV advertising and commercial jingles! I watched A LOT of TV during the ‘60s and ‘70s!

I'm totally off on a tangent now but did Kraft run the commercials of the lady's hands preparing simple snack recipes (using Kraft products, of course) while being narrated by a silky-voiced guy, in the US? Wow, I can still close my eyes and see some of those. They were like primitive versions of Tasty videos. Good times!!

 

[L&Lfan]

Yes, I remember them when Kraft would sponsor a special TV event like Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella or Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Not those shows exactly but programming like them. The Kraft lady would make simple recipes using Kraft products. Yes, absolutely!

 

[RedAngie]

Definitely not me. Out of curiosity I just looked in the fridge and my spreadable container has the new label on it. I've had it for weeks and never noticed.

Same here. I just checked and the container of LOL light butter with canola oil has the new packaging. I've had it for maybe a month now. The carton of half-and-half, however, still has the Native American woman on it.

 

[minthorne]

Paul Newman is on there to promote his own product. Aunt Jemima - now that's about as racist as you can get, since the character came from an old minstrel show based on black stereotypes. A leprechaun is a mythical being. I had to look up LaNegrita - for the most part it is a term of endearment used in Spanish speaking communities? So none of your examples make any sense at all, except the Aunt Jemima one.

Isn't she a Disney legend?

 

[NYCgrrl]

Isn't she a Disney legend?

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I would hope she is not anymore. I used to cringe looking at the advertisements.
As for the Indian Maiden on the Land O' Lakes butter? Seemed respectful, never bothered me into not buying it.

 

[JaxDad]

Isn't she a Disney legend?

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Wait! Was she married to Uncle Remus?

 

[chickapin parterre]

Isn't she a Disney legend?

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No ...when disneyland first opened it was perhaps the first shopping mall in the US...you could buy anything at Disneyland,Wurlitzer organs to bras. Aunt Jeremiah was a corporate symbol

 

[DuskKodesh]

I knew the land O lakes woman was marketing but for the life of me I thought Aunt Jemima was started by a real woman that made pancakes. They fooled me!

 

[L&Lfan]

Wait! Was she married to Uncle Remus?

That was Aunt Tempy.... but she and Remus were just friends. No romance.

 

[design_mom]

I think just having the lake and trees on the box kind of fits with the name Land O Lakes. It doesn’t really need anything else.

But, then, I buy Publix store brand butter, which has packaging about as plain as you can make it. I tend to look at the price tags more than the packaging.

I agree with you. I think the new packaging works with the name of the product. And I also buy whatever kind of butter is on sale. Land'O'Lakes, Meijer brand, Challenge, etc. (By the way OP, Challenge butter is still sold here... and still has a deer on the label.)

 

[bcla]

I knew the land O lakes woman was marketing but for the life of me I thought Aunt Jemima was started by a real woman that made pancakes. They fooled me!

That has a far more offensive origin than anything else mentioned here. Or at least the earliest marketing of the product.

 

[pryncess527]

Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, who tweeted, "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." Flanagan is a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe.