BS BULLETIN:

• The Laughing Cow has lost her famous grin for the first time in more than a century.
• Special packages featuring a stone-faced cow and the message “We need to talk” are appearing in more than 4,700 U.S. stores.
• The company insists nothing has changed about the cheese — but it isn’t saying yet what made the cow stop laughing.

Something has happened to The Laughing Cow.

And apparently it’s serious.

After more than 100 years of grinning from refrigerators, lunchboxes and supermarket shelves, the famous red cow has stopped laughing.

Bel Brands USA has rolled out special packages of its Creamy Original cheese wedges featuring its normally cheerful mascot wearing a distinctly unhappy expression.

The campaign has an appropriately ominous name:

“The Not Laughing Cow.”

And right beside the suddenly somber bovine is a QR code accompanied by three words guaranteed to strike fear into anyone who has ever been in a relationship:

“We need to talk.”

The packages are appearing in more than 4,700 stores across the continental United States, according to Bel Brands.

So what happened?

They’re not telling us.

“The Laughing Cow has spent more than 100 years reminding us not to take life too seriously. So when she suddenly gets serious, you pay attention,” Bel Brands U.S. Cheese Chief Marketing Officer Jamee Pearlstein said.

“Whatever finally got to her must be worth talking about. We’ll let her explain when she’s ready.”

The mystery isn’t confined to the cheese aisle.

Bel has released videos showing the formerly jovial cow sitting alone at a diner and looking miserable on a swing, while the campaign website invites consumers to speculate about what finally wiped the smile off her face.

Before anybody starts stockpiling cheese wedges, however, the company says the actual product hasn’t changed.

It’s still the same spreadable cheese.

And Bel says the frown isn’t permanent.

The company promises the reason for the mascot’s sudden crisis will be revealed, after which it expects The Laughing Cow to eventually start laughing again.

Until then, America has another mystery to solve.

What does a cow who has spent 105 years laughing finally see that makes her stop?

MY QUICK TAKE

Have you looked around lately?

Frankly, I’m more suspicious of the other cows still laughing.

DBS WIRE SOURCES

• Fox Business — The Laughing Cow ditches iconic smile
• Bel Brands USA — After more than 100 years, The Laughing Cow stops laughing
• USA Today — Why your Laughing Cow cheese isn’t laughing
• PR Newswire — The Not Laughing Cow campaign