Seattle Mayoral Candidates Sculpted into Life Size Butter Busts

SEATTLE, Oct. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Talk about buttering up politicians. Darigold has carved new territory for political races, today unveiling uncanny replicas of the two leading Seattle mayoral candidates made entirely out of the company's smooth, golden butter.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131024/SF03994)

The life-size statues were commissioned as part of a Darigold campaign asking, "Who's the Better Butter Mayor?" in a race between Democratic incumbent Mayor Mike McGinn and Democratic challenger, State Senator Ed Murray. Will people vote for their favorite candidate, or be swayed by the opponents beautiful buttery bust? Only time, and an online public voting contest will tell.

From now until Nov. 1, Seattleites (and residents of Idaho, Oregon and Washington) are invited to cast their butter ballots for their favorite butter candidate online at Facebook.com/Darigold. Darigold will tally the votes to declare a winner, at least when it comes to who looks better in butter.

The sculptures depict each candidate from the waist up, standing behind a podium as he delivers his smoothest speech. The nearly life size replicas were each made from 150-pounds of butter and took six full days of carving. Renowned butter artist Linda Christensen (who has carved replicas of the Minnesota State Fair dairy princesses for the last 40 years), was brought in for the occasion. Christensen carved the candidates in Darigold's walk-in cooler at its South Seattle headquarters, where they will remain until election night.

"On the big night we will roll out the butter busts to each candidate's election night parties where Mayor McGinn and Senator Murray will have a chance to view them in all their buttery glory," said Seth T. Godwin, senior product manager for Darigold. "In the meantime, we encourage everyone to go online and cast their vote to help decide just who is the better butter mayor. We will track results in real time as a completely unofficial pulse on who may be winning the actual race for office."

Those who participate in the online poll are eligible to score a grand prize "Mayoral Treatment" package. One lucky voter will win an overnight luxury hotel stay at the Monaco Seattle's celebrated Monte Carlo Suite, a $300 dinner gift card at the chic Crush restaurant by Chef Jason Wilson, a $400 Visa gift card, and private transportation throughout the night.

Darigold – which presented the Butter Dome sculpture last year as an imaginative take on Seattle's planned new sports arena – intends to make its butter carving antics an annual surprise for local fans. The farmer-owned cooperative which includes more than 500 Northwest dairy farms is known for its superior butter created through a specialized European vacuum churn process that makes for a smoother, denser, better tasting butter – for cooking, eating and carving alike.

About Darigold Inc.
Headquartered in Seattle, Wash., Darigold Inc. is the marketing and processing subsidiary of the Northwest Dairy Association, which is owned by approximately 500 dairy producers throughout the Northwest. Darigold, Inc. produces a full line of dairy-based products for retail, foodservice, commodity and specialty markets and is one of the largest U.S. dairy processors. Current Darigold product offerings include milk, butter, sour cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, half & half, creamers, whipping cream, buttermilk and dairy protein recovery beverages. Darigold, Inc. operates 12 processing plants throughout the Northwest to serve its dairy farm families.

SOURCE Darigold Inc.