The Laughing Cow finally got her spark back.
Weeks after Bel Us, part of the Bel Group, launched a campaign to get the famed mascot laughing again, the Laughing Cow is officially back to her normal self.
She even stopped by "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" last month to explain why she mysteriously stopped laughing, saying "wedge issues dividing us" caused her to lose her desire to chuckle.
According to Bel Us, people across the country have been sharing and laughing off their "wedge issues," squashing small everyday disagreements, like whether the bed must be made every morning or whether dishes should soak overnight.
Though Jimmy Kimmel and longtime sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez didn't have much luck getting a chuckle out of the Laughing Cow during her appearance
on the show, she finally cracked (up) at a special performance held at Chicago comedy venue The Second City on Thursday, Oct. 22.
"She's back," Bel North America's CEO Peter McGuinness said in a statement. "Turns out, sometimes all it takes to bring people together is learning to not take things, or more importantly ourselves, too seriously."
The brand is celebrating the accomplishment with a short clip of the now-laughing cow "lighting up" New York City's Times Square for one week, starting Friday, Oct. 23. The mascot will also be making a special appearance in the town square to mark the moment.
Why did the Laughing Cow stop laughing in the first place?
According to a Tuesday, Sept. 29 clip posted to Instagram, the Laughing Cow seemingly stopped laughing because trivial, everyday disagreements, like whether throw pillows are essential or absurd, continue to drive a "wedge" between us.
"After one hundred years, the Laughing Cow stopped laughing," the narrator says in the clip. "Why? Well, people are taking every little thing so seriously."
The narrator added: "All these wedge issues dividing us. Letting petty arguments get in the way, so she stopped laughing because she believes a wedge is for sharing, not fighting over."
To get the Laughing Cow laughing again, Bel Brands USA, Kimmel and Rodriguez kicked off a nationwide challenge. The challenge involved people:
- Recording a video sharing an unnecessary disagreement currently driving a wedge between them and someone else.
- Acknowledging the disagreement isn't worth the divide and asking The Laughing Cow to laugh again.
- Sharing the video and using #SpreadTheLaugh to join the challenge.
"When we invited people to share their 'wedge issues' to help The Laughing Cow get her laugh back, we never imagined just how far it would spread (or how hilarious and silly some of our little disagreements really are)," McGuinness said in his statement. "She's laughing again, and we hope it keeps spreading!"
Contributing: Greta Cross, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Laughing Cow is laughing again. Here's how she got her spark back
