Lafayette American Rebrands Milkweed for Earth Day

Lafayette American is on a mission to rebrand milkweed. Butterflies rely on milkweed but 'milkweed' is a terrible name. So its launched a program to rename that, hoping this will lead to more people planting it.

Your Spring seedlings can help fuel the next four generations of Monarch Butterflies that will emerge throughout the year on their annual trek to Mexico. Lafayette American is dropping its latest Butterfly Superhighway seed packs for Earth Day, which feature the three finalists for the Milkweed rebrand with designs inspired by Alexander Girard illustrations. Three years in, crowdsourced submissions for the rebrand have included Monarch Happy Meal, Milk Map, Butterfly Bing, and even Snacky Snack. This is the final year with three finalists: Butterfly Landing, Monarch Milk, and Milky Way.

The Butterfly Superhighway is part of Lafayette American's creative sustainability efforts as an indie agency to help the endangered Monarch Butterfly. In its third year running, the project continues to drive consumer awareness around the plight of the Monarchs, spearheaded by the rebrand of Milkweed. Butterflies are disappearing at a rapid rate in the US, down by 22% over the past century, according to a recent report published in the Washington Post (not good since they're major pollinators of the ecosystem).