One of the biggest companies in the world that produces dairy products, butter, and cheese is a company called Land O’ Lakes. Land O’Lakes branding image for its products used to be a Native American Indian but as of recent, the company has changed its branding image to a landscape image.
Land O’Lakes was founded back in 1921 and they have been using the Native American Indian branding logo for the entire time. The company has been criticized for using the logo as well some people even go as far as to call the logo racist because of the butter maiden image. The company was praised all over social media and in the media for changing the logo. However, there is a little uncertainty on whether or not the image would be removed from every single Land O Lakes product. The company introduced the new logo back in February at a press release.
Land O’Lakes will be getting creative with the new packaging by displaying it in multiple different ways. One of the new things that the company will be doing is putting pictures of different farmers on the packaging along with the phrase “Farmer-Owned”. The chief executive officer of the company issued a statement that basically stated that the company wanted a logo that reflects its culture and what the company stands for.
Land O’ Lakes is all-inclusive and promotes diversity with the farmer-owners who they work with in order to produce their premium dairy products. The company is focused on having a positive connection with every single individual who consumes their products.
When Land O’ Lakes the company has decided to make the branding change they have received mixed reactions on social media. Most people have praised Land O’ Lakes for the branding change but others have stated that the company should not have used the “butter maiden” image in the first place.
In an age of social media where people can access information from anywhere in the world Land O’ Lakes can expect to have all of these mixed reactions. You would think everyone would be praising the company but sometimes even doing the right thing is not enough. Land O’ Lakes made the decision for the branding image change back in 2019. The company will start the official branding change process in 2020. The company projects that by the end of 2020 that all products will have the branding image change.
Land O’ Lakes has really stepped up to the plate when it came to removing the image that was offensive to the Native American population. It may have taken the company a hundred years to make the changes but what is important is that the changes were made.
When Land O’Lakes was displaying the “butter maiden” image for all of these years there was no malice or hateful intent behind it. Land O’Lakes is clearly leading the way when it comes to big brands admitting that they made a mistake and then humbly correcting the mistake. Other major corporations who may have inadvertently made an offensive branding image or wording can learn a lot from a company like Land O’ Lakes when it comes to doing the right thing and correcting it.
