NEW LOOK FOR BETTY CROCKER
By Adnews Staff
Betty Crocker is getting a new look this spring - you might even say 75 new looks. She will be a computer composite with features drawn from photos of 75 North American women, two of whom are Canadian: Marie Gilbert of London, Ont. and Marielle Guay-Ouellette of Chatam, Que. The new face will be combined with a 1986 Betty Crocker portrait. U.S.-based General Mills launched a contest last September looking for women with characteristics Betty Crocker is supposed to possess, such as kindness, resourcefulness and a commitment to community. Currently Betty's picture does not appear on boxes of products bearing her name, though she appears in General Mills cookbooks. The new face will be unveiled in mid-March. The company hasn't decided yet what products will have the new Betty Crocker likeness on their packaging, nor if she will be used in advertising. There are currently about 100 products in the Betty Crocker line, ranging from cake mixes and other baking supplies to hamburger sauce, snack foods, dried fruit treats and microwave popcorn.
The new image marks the 75th birthday of Betty Crocker, a fictitious character conceived to answer baking questions from customers of General Mills' predecessor, Washburn Crosby Co. For the first 15 years she was just a signature. In 1936 her portrait was painted: a composite of several women in the company's home service department.