After nearly a century, Land O’Lakes is quietly removing the Indian maiden from its butter packaging, multiple sources reported.
To celebrate the company’s 100th anniversary next year, Mia the Indian maiden was removed from the packaging in a redesign intended to focus on celebrating farmers, Minnesota Reformer reported Wednesday.
“We need packaging that reflects the foundation and heart of our company culture — and nothing does that better than our farmer-owners whose milk is used to produce Land O’Lakes’ dairy products,” the company said in a statement in February.
As Hall & Oates would say, “She’s gone.” https://t.co/kOol0hlCBD
— Rick Nelson (@RickNelsonStrib) April 15, 2020
The statement didn’t mention a reason for why the maiden was removed from the packaging, and the website does not include any trace of the character.
Activists have criticized the continued use of the Indian maiden on the brand’s packaging as offensive and harmful. While the decision to remove the character was seemingly done quietly, critics have commended the decision. (RELATED: Indian Tribe Dismantles ‘Offensive’ Minnesota Sculpture, May Burn It Too)
“It could have been a very strong and positive message to have publicly said, ‘We realized after a hundred years that our image was harmful and so we decided to remove it,’” Adrienne Keene, a professor at Brown University, told Minnesota Reformer. “In our current cultural moment, that’s something people would really respond to.”
“The conversation has shifted so much. We have scientific, psychological research that shows the harms of these types of representations,” Keene added.
The new packaging is rolling out across all Land O’Lakes products by the end of 2020, the company statement concludes.