Land O'Lakes Native American Logo Removal

Overview

The Land O'Lakes Native American Logo Removal refers to the online reaction to a design change made by the Land O'Lakes butter cooperative, which removed the Native American woman, also known as the "Butter Maiden" at the center of the logo. While the company insisted they made the change to emphasize the text "farmer-owned," some online expressed outrage toward the change.

Background

On April 6th, 2020, the Land O'Lakes dairy cooperative announced the new packaging in a press release (old logo and new logo shown below, top and bottom, respectively).^[1] They wrote:

The new packaging will show up in a variety of ways, including through a new front-of-package design that features the phrase “Farmer-Owned” above the LAND O LAKES brandmark, “Since 1921” below it and a vibrant illustration of land and lakes. Some products, including stick butter, will also 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.”

Land O’Lakes was founded by a group of Minnesota dairy farmers in 1921, and as it approaches its 100th anniversary in 2021, the co-op has reflected on its treasured history and made the decision to showcase its greatest strength--its farmers.

Developments

Online Reaction

On April 15th, 2020, Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan tweeted, ^[2] "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." The tweet received more than 9,900 likes and 1,300 retweets in less than three weeks (shown below).

Two days later, Redditor ^[3] atlantacharlie posted about the change in the /r/news subreddit. The post received more than 17,000 points (90% upvoted) and 2,600 comments in less than one month. The news also inspired posts in several other subreddits, including /r/Minnesota,^[4] /r/offbeat,^[5] /r/politics,^[6] /r/IndianCountry^[7] and more.

Some objected to the change. A viral tweet by Twitter^[9] user @nomorenightowl tweeted, "Land O Lakes can kiss this butter buyer's ass. My family has been a Land O Lakes family since I can remember. No more. I'm fine with store brand from here on out. Your virtue signaling lost you some good customers who were always willing to pay more for your product." The Twitter account has since been deleted (shown below, left).

Additionally, some mocked the tweet. Twitter^[9] user @LucyXIV shared the post and wrote, "Americans saying shit like ‘my family has always been a land o lakes family’ is so fucking funny lmao." The tweet received more than 86,000 likes and 7,400 retweets in less than one week (shown below, center).

Others posted jokes about the change. Twitter^[10] user leala_lakota tweeted a conversation about the change in which her father says, "Finally got rid of her. But kept her land." The tweet received more than 68,000 likes and 8,900 retweets in less than one week (shown below, right).

They followed the tweet,^[11] "hey all, i also wanna clear up some things. while I am light skinned, my dad and i are oglala lakota. He was born and raised on Pine Ridge Indian Rez in SD. This is meant as a sort of awareness for violence against Indigenous women."

People also posted on the brand's Facebook page complaining about the change. Many also re-iterated variations of the "Got rid of her, but kept her land" tweet (example below).^[12]

Parodies

On April 18th, 2020, Redditor^[8] Back4smith posted an edited version of the logo featuring the Star Wars character Lando Calrissian. The post received more than 15,000 points (94% upvoted) and 440 comments in less than one month (shown below).

Over the next week, others published parodies of the logo, adding other cultural figures (examples below).

Media Coverage

Several media outlets covered the controversy, including TMZ,^[13] CNN,^[14] The Mary Sue,^[15] Bloomberg^[16] and more.

Search Interest

External References