There's No Graceful Way to Update a Controversial Mascot

And brands certainly don't want to talk about it

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Mascots help personify brands and serve as recognizable ambassadors on store shelves. But what happens when those brand faces have a troubled history?

Land O’Lakes is a good example: In April, the brand quietly dropped the indigenous woman on its packaging in advance of its 100th anniversary.

Mascots have been pulled in the past: Corn chip brand Fritos retired its Frito Bandito in 1971, just four years after its 1967 debut, following complaints from Mexican-American advocacy groups. (Parent company Frito-Lay did not respond to requests for comment.)

But others, like Land O’Lakes, have endured for generations.

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