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The Margarine Wars
The century-long American and European regulatory campaign against margarine (1870s–1960s) — Juma's canonical illustration of how incumbent industries mobilize state power to dampen innovation through rules framed as consumer protection.
The margarine wars were the extended regulatory contest in which dairy industries across multiple jurisdictions used political power to restrict margarine's competition with butter. The restrictions took extraordinary forms: Wisconsin required margarine to be dyed pink until 1967, other American states required yellow-color prohibitions so margarine would look visibly different from butter, taxation regimes made margarine artificially expensive, and packaging requirements mandated language emphasizing margarine's artificial character. The campaign was framed throughout as consumer protection — margarine was supposedly adulterated, unhealthy, dishonest about its composition. The underlying dynamic was the dairy industry's response to a cheaper competitor that threatened farm incomes during agricultural downturns.
In The You On AI Field Guide
The margarine wars span nearly a century and involve dozens of jurisdictions, but the pattern is consistent throughout. Margarine was invented in France in the 1860s as a butter substitute using beef fat. It proved cheaper than butter, shelf-stable, and acceptable in taste. Its appeal to working-class and lower-middle-class consumers was