You Can Tell This “Monterey Jill” Reduced Fat Cheese Is For Women Because It’s So Pretty Image courtesy of Seanan's Tumblr
Hey, ladies! Have you been feeling like you can’t buy Monterey Jack cheese because it’s got a masculine name and is just soo fatty? Lucerne has the solution, something it calls “Monterey Jack’s lighter companion”: It’s a lady cow named Monterey Jill — complete with swirly purple writing and curvy flourishes — wearing a flower on her head, fancy pearls and a sassy smirk. Because only women want to cut the fat, clearly. Sarcasm hats on, everyone.
Meanwhile, Monterey Jack features gender neutral colors and a couple of regular cows — which are still female, because that’s what the word “cow” means. So apparently Monterey Jack just doesn’t feel the need to wear jewelry and go to the hair salon.
This isn’t a new product — though we first saw it on the Seanan’s Tumblr, the blog Sociological Images had a post about it over a year ago and brought up all the issues anyone with a pair of eyes and a non-sexist attitude would have.
Do only women want reduced fat cheese? No. Are all women into dieting and reduced fat products? Definitely no (especially when it comes to cheese because seriously, you are just ruining it that way and it makes my heart cry little cheesy tears).
At the end of the day, you don’t have to buy the stuff if the preening Jill makes you mad, but we still reached out to Lucerne to see if the company had anything to say to critics of the packaging who might find it sexist.
*Editorial note on the above post: To quote one colleague, “I want to punch this cheese in the face.”
**And to quote another, “Does cheese have a face?”
Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.