Is America ready for butter with olive oil in it? This spot for Land O’Lakes (via Campbell Mithun, Minneapolis) will help nudge the nation in that direction as it introduces the “colive” — an olive-shaped object with the distinctive black-and-white markings of a Holstein cow. “Butter comes from a cow, olive oil comes from olives, and butter with olive oil comes from colives,” the voiceover patiently explains. Land O’Lakes is quite right to figure it must do something distinctive to put consumers at ease with the product. Butter seems quintessentially American — the stuff of which cow sculptures are made at Midwestern state fairs. Though it has become much more common in American kitchens, olive oil still seems vaguely foreign (which, indeed, is part of its appeal for some consumers). The “colive” ploy implicitly acknowledges the novelty of mixing the two, but making it seem fun rather than weird. The voiceover’s reference to “The Land O’Lakes butter you love, with the pure goodness of olive oil” leaves the welcome thought in your head that butter has been transformed into a health food. The clean, uncluttered visuals help to augment that impression. With its graphic elements popping out of a white background, the look of the commercial (right down to the sans serif type spelling out “Cow,” “Olive” and “Colive”) is sleek without seeming unduly artsy. –Mark Dolliver
