Land O’Lakes Erases American Indian ‘Butter Maiden’ Logo After 92 Years

Land O’Lakes has officially erased the American Indian “butter maiden” logo from its products after almost a century of use, reported People Magazine. The company initially announced that it would remove the logo in February, and this month the products with the new look begun arriving in stores.

The American Indian woman featured prominently on all Land O’Lakes products for 92 years and was named Mia. In 1928, Brown & Bigelow illustrator Arthur C. Hanson painted the illustration. Initially, it showed more of her but was later changed to focus on her face.

The change is rolling out ahead of the brand’s 101st anniversary.

For years, detractors criticized the company for using the allegedly racist logo. North Dakota Representative Ruth Buffalo told the Grand Forks Herald that the image of Mia recalls the “human and sex trafficking” of American Indian women and girls.

While happy that Land O’Lakes is finally removing its old logo, Buffalo expressed that she believes there is still plenty of work to be done in the country to address “underlying issues that directly impact an entire population that survived genocide.”

Many people on social media believe the dairy brand acted because of the backlash it received; however, People reports that President and CEO Beth Ford did not give explicit reasoning behind the company’s decision.

All she said was that changing the focus to the “farmer-owners whose milk is used to produce Land O’Lakes’ dairy products,” is more in line with the brand’s image.

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Ford stated that the company’s goal is to connect the farmers that “grow our food with those that consume it.”

“Our farmer-to-fork structure gives us a unique ability to bridge this divide,” she added.

According to the company’s press release, it will introduce several types of new packaging, including “a new front-of-package design that features the phrase ‘Farmer-Owned’ above LAND O’LAKES brandmark, ‘Since 1921.'”

Its stick butter products will “include photos of real Land O’Lakes farmers and co-op members and copy that reads ‘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.'”

People Magazine shared a photo of the updated logo. It uses the same color palette, but where Mia used to be is a lake positioned between two rows of green trees, which reflect in the water.

The new design has started appearing on packages of butter, but it will begin showing up on other Land O’Lakes products such as cheese sticks and deli items later this year.