Got Milk?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Got Milk? is an American advertising campaign encouraging the purchase of cow's milk which was created by the advertising agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners for the California Milk Processor Board in 1993 and later licensed for use by milk processors and dairy farmers. It has been running since October 1993. The campaign is credited with putting life back into milk sales nationwide after a 20-year slump.

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The original TV commercials featured ordinary people in various situations involving dry or sticky foods and treats such as peanut butter. The person then finds himself in an uncomfortable situation due to a full mouth and no milk to wash it down. At the end of the comercial the character would sadly look to the camera and boldly displayed would be the words, "Got Milk?".

The first Got Milk? ad, in October 1993, featured a hapless history buff (played by Sean Whalen) who calls in to answer a radio station's $10,000 trivia question, "Who shot Alexander Hamilton in that famous duel?" The man's apartment is shown to be a private museum to the duel, packed with artifacts. He answers the question correctly, but because his mouth is full of peanut butter and he has no milk to wash it down, his answer is unintelligible. The ad, directed by Hollywood director Michael Bay, was at the top the advertising industry's award circuit in 1994. In 2002, the ad was named one of the ten best commercials of all time by a USA Today poll, and was run again nationwide that same year. It has since been featured in numerous books on advertising and is being used in case studies at top-flight programs around the country.

The slogan "got milk?" was licensed to the National Milk Processor Board (MilkPEP) in 1998 to use on their celebrity print ads, which included celebrities from the fields of sports, media and entertainment, as well as fictional characters from TV and film such as The Simpsons and Batman, posing in print advertisements sporting a "milk moustache," employing the slogan, "Where's your moustache?"

According to the Got Milk? website, the campaign has over 90% awareness in the US and the tag line has been licensed to dairy boards across the US since 1995. Got Milk? is a powerful property and has been licensed on a range of consumer goods including Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels, baby and teen apparel, and kitchenware. The trademarked line has been widely parodied by groups championing a variety of causes. Many of these parodies use a lookalike rather than the actual persons used in the original Got Milk? ads.

In 2006, the Got Milk? campaign went after a new demographic with a series of Spanish-language ¿Toma Leche? (Do You Drink Milk?) ads, in which milk is touted as a "wonder tonic" with muscle and hair building qualities. [1]

In 2004, a non-profit group opposed to the use of animal products as food, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, attacked the campaign as a "propaganda blitz" and criticized claims that milk promotes weight loss. [2]. In 2006, the group sued major grocery stores and dairy producers calling on milk to carry warning labels for the lactose intolerant.

Controversy also erupted over the ads during post-season play of Major League Baseball (MLB) in October, 2005. Filmed at Labatt Memorial Park in London, Ontario, the ads spoofed past steroid scandals in MLB by showing ballplayers using "performance-enhancing substances," in this case milk. Major League Baseball was not amused, but the vast majority of 23,000 respondents to a Houston-based online poll found the advertisements funny and felt that they should remain on the air.

Pikachu's "got milk?" ad.
Pikachu's "got milk?" ad.

In Futurama episode "Fear of a Bot Planet" a billboard is seen saying: "Got Milk? Then you're a human and must be killed."

Friends character Ross Geller claims to have come up with the slogan, "Got milk?" None of his friends believe him and he can't prove his claim, ruing "I should've written it down."

Scrubs character Dr. Todd Quinlan (aka The Todd) is seen wearing a shirt bearing the slogan "got milkers?".

Recently, the Milk Mustache has started to appear as a digital emoticon in some places using the punctuation symbols :-{) to represent a smiley with a milk mustache.

During a skit on Mind of Mencia, Mencia stated that millions of Chinese drink their own urine for health reasons. This was accompanied by a poster that said "Got pee?"

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