Food - Drink
The Kewpie Logo Is Censored On US-Produced Mayo Bottles
By AUTUMN SWIERS
Kewpie, an iconic Japanese brand of mayonnaise, is as famous for its uniquely sweet and savory flavor as it is famous for its mascot, a Kewpie baby that is printed on the front of each red-capped bottle. However, American shoppers may picture the Kewpie baby a bit differently than consumers outside of the country.
The original Japanese Kewpie logo is a full-body illustration of a naked baby with angel wings, but on American-made bottles, the baby is only shown from the neck-up, sans wings, with its arm outstretched in a friendly wave. Americans are known to be a bit more nudity-phobic, so it's not hard to imagine why the logo was censored to increase sales.
As for the baby's wings, when Kewpie was renewing its Halal certification, a commenter pointed out that the Islamic school of thought forbids idol worship, and the tiny cherub on the bottle looks like an angel; therefore, it counts as an idol. Kewpie stated that the baby was not really meant to be an angel, but acquiesced, and the logo was changed.