Perhaps one of the best known current brands to use Native American imagery in their branding is Land O' Lakes, makers of butter and other cream products. The company name is a tribute to Minnesota, where the company was founded, and its many sparkling lakes. Their logo shows a Native American woman, holding butter and sitting in front of one of the aforementioned lakes in a beautiful natural setting. Merskin (2001) states that this logo was intended as "symbolism of the purity of the products." She goes on the explicate further that the woman is "associated with innocence, nature, and purity" (p. 161).
Once again we see nature and naturalness being marketed as something of great value, and a Native American figure is used to further this idea. The Native American woman is portrayed as simple and natural. Modern life does not touch her.
Reference
Merskin, D. (2001). Winnebagos, Cherokees, Apaches and Dakotas: The persistence of stereotyping of American Indians in American advertising brands. Howard Journal of Communications, 12: 159-169.
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