The Laughing Cow has stopped laughing. The brand won’t say why

The Laughing Cow has removed its famous smile for the first time in more than 100 years, turning one of food’s most recognisable mascots into the centre of a mystery campaign playing out across packaging, social media and the real world.

Called ‘The Not Laughing Cow’, the campaign sees select packs of Creamy Original cheese replace the brand’s familiar grinning red cow with a straight-faced version carrying the message: “We need to talk.”

A QR code sends shoppers to TheNotLaughingCow.com, where videos show the mascot sitting alone in a diner and looking glum on a swing. Rather than explain what is wrong, the brand is asking people to guess.

More than 4,700 US stores are carrying the altered packs. The cheese itself has not changed, making the packaging the campaign’s main media channel.

It is a simple disruption of a brand asset people rarely notice until it changes. KFC used a similar trick when it knocked out the Colonel’s teeth for a Canadian hockey campaign, while McDonald’s previously removed the Happy Meal smile to prompt conversations about children’s emotions.

Jamee Pearlstein, chief marketing officer of Bel Brands US Cheese, said: “Whatever finally got to her must be worth talking about. We’ll let her explain when she’s ready.”

The temporary change turns more than a century of brand consistency into the hook.

When your name is The Laughing Cow, not laughing is enough to make people look twice.

Subscribe to the famous newsletter and get the best campaigns in your inbox