Fran Larson

Sun Maid Raisin Picture Makeover: Why Can't Some Things Remain Authentic And Real - Not Fake?


Posted: Friday, December 04, 2009

by Fran Larson
http://www.franniesquotes.com/

I felt like I had lost a close friend when I discovered Sun Maid Raisins had updated their picture of the Sun Maid Girl . The updated version is the 2009 stereotype female with obvious false breast implants and worst of all, those awful ugly, straight-line horse teeth that are commonly called veneers.

Before I go any further on my rant, let me give you a brief history of our nostalgic "Sun Maid Girl," straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak from Sunmaidraisins.com:

Many people want to know if a real person was the original "Sun-Maid girl." The answer is "Yes," and her name was Lorraine Collett Petersen. In May 1915, she was discovered drying her black hair curls in the sunny backyard of her parents' home in Fresno, California. She was then asked to pose for a painting while holding a basket tray of fresh grapes. This striking image was first applied to packages of Sun-Maid raisins in 1916. Over the years, this image has been seen on millions and millions of packages and has been taken into homes throughout the world.

The treasured original watercolor painting is today kept safely in a concrete vault at Sun-Maid's headquarters in Kingsburg, California.

Here are the two pictures, which are completely different.

                    
Pictures from Sunmaidraisins. com

Why did Sun Maid succumb to America's obsession with fake looks?

How about those veneers that looks like horse teeth? Do you really think they are attractive? Here is what idealdenistry.com has to say about veneers:

The Ugly:

Cosmetic dentistry is supposed to make you look and feel good. How many people like the look of teeth that are too fat, too opaque, and overall just unnatural looking? I do not know very many myself. Just like the shoe example above, which also would look very strange, putting anything on top of natural looking teeth will look fat and fake. If your tooth is very dark, and the veneer/laminate is very thin, then it will essentially have to be extremely opaque to block out the dark color like white out. That does not look natural! It is my personal opinion, and that of many other advanced cosmetic dentists, that to achieve a natural looking beautiful smile you have to design the smile so that the teeth are the ideal proportions to your face and fit on your teeth as if you were born with them. That is mostly impossible with Lumineers. (idealdenistry.com)

(For those of you who have a beautiful smile, due to a thoughtful, honest dentist that knows how to enhance your looks, rather than make a fast buck, I am not talking to you.)

I just read a sad true story of someone in their 20's who was depressed, big-time. The reason for this depression was because she thought she was ugly. (Haven't we learned anything from Ugly Betty or The Ugly Duckling ?) How sad that we are all judged by our looks.

This brings me back to the subject of our latest Sun Maid Girl . Please, Sun Maid , please remain authentic, and remain real. The little boy loved even The Velveteen Rabbit because he was real.

Sun Maid, Please teach us all that we can we loved for our real selves.

Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you?
Francine Larson:

Co-Author of Character Keys to a Bright Future.

She is a freelance writer

Francine Larson has a new book that just came out, "The Lure of Annabelle Key Lighthouse," an exciting Christian Teen Novella. You may view it at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/115229

See more articles by Francine Larson at:http://www.examiner.com/modern-love-in-tampa-bay/francine-larson

She also writes for The Highlands at Scotland Yards. She writes poetry and short stories. She is a contributor for Yahoo (http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/685738/francine_larson.html)

This Article has been viewed 193 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)
» left by Dianne Lehmann
 2 years 168 days ago.
137 fans.
Hi Fran.
 
Shoot me for being unobservant ... my dad is probably rolling over in his grave! :) I haven't actually looked at the package in years. But I will now. And you are right about all that you wrote. My firewall is blocking your photos, so I will just have to go to their website.
 
Great article!
 
Dianne
» left by Crystal Pratt 2 years 167 days ago.
22 fans.
I'm with you, Fran. It's disgusting.
 
My favorite ad campaign (if I were to have one :-) ) is the Dove Natural Beauty ad set. You should check it out. It has a nice message. This? Does not.
 
Thanks for sharing your writing.
 
Crystal
» left by Marijo Phelps
 2 years 166 days ago.
143 fans.
Thanks for the plea and I hope they listen! MArijo
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