How To: Do the Land O'Lakes Indian Butter (Boob) Trick

The artwork for Minnesota's Land O' Lakes butter packaging is classic, dating back to 1928 when it was first created by Brown & Bigelow illustrator Arthur C. Hanson. The logo was updated ("modernized") once in 1939, again in the '50s, and has undergone minor modifications here and there since. The legendary packaging is good for two rather nerdy tricks: A) a very trippy optical illusion and B) a very infantile boob illusion.

The first fascination to be associated with the  icon is its capacity for an infinite-loop motif—or more specifically, the Droste Effect: a visual effect in which a motif can theoretically be repeated infinitely within itself. To view this effect within the Land O'Lakes image, you would need a super powerful magnifying glass, or the ability to expand the most forefront image to enormous proportions. To see the effect visually illustrated, check out the (unrelated to Land O'Lakes) image to the right.

As promised, the second fascination brings us to boobs. Just as nerdy as the Droste Effect, yet an entirely breed, the Land O'Lakes butter packaging boob trick is sure to please kids and (juvenile) adults alike. Here's how it works:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

To do it yourself: YouTube user calvirgil has shared a video demo of the process, so simply watch and follow along below. He folds the Indian woman's knees up to create the illusion, but I prefer the version illustrated over at BeUnproductive.com, which is neater (pictured directly above).

First, here are the steps to the "cleaner" method:

1. Flatten the Land O'Lakes butter packaging.
2. Use an Xacto knife or scissors to cut out the front and back panels of the box, so that you have two identical images.
3. In the first panel, use an Xacto knife to cut out/extract the tiny box of butter she is holding (the part of the image that allows the Droste Effect to occur).
4. Take your second panel of the butter packaging and flip it upside down. Lie it face side up behind your initial panel that you cut the tiny box of butter from. *OR, simply cut out the knees and affix with tape behind the hole you've created in the first panel.
5. And there ya go—exposed "boobs".

And now, the previously mentioned "folded" method: