“Got Milk?”
The National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board, known as Milk Pep, found themselves strategizing in the early nineties because milk sales had been falling for years. The product was becoming outdated. Its packaging, as well as milk itself had very few changes made to it within the past decades. Children were found to be the largest consumers of milk, but by the time they reached their teen years, the consumers began to favor other beverages (namely soft drinks). In a drastic push to offset this trend, the ad agency Bozell developed a $36 million campaign for Milk Pep. The Milk Mustache campaign was launched in January of 1995.
The campaign targeted women within the ages of 25-44 because studies had shown they were typically put in charge of shopping for household supplies. Plus, it was thought that they would be the most interested in the health benefits of skim milk. The ads created highlighted the benefits of skim milk utilizing celebrities, athletes, models, and singers donning a milk mustache.
The Milk Mustache campaign’s featured celebrities were never chosen for their relationship with the milk and dairy industry. The campaign chose them based on the demographic they were targeting. The ads have been successful because they’ve made the campaign’s target audience want to buy and drink milk — not because they necessarily trusted Billy Ray Cyrus’ clout in matters of milk and dairy purity or health, but because they were familiar with him, his music, and mullet. At the time the Billy Ray Cyrus’ Milk Mustache ad was run, the singer turned actor had a positive cultural currency that the masterminds behind the Milk Mustache advertising hoped would transfer onto their product. The Milk Mustache campaign certainly scores points for its visual rhetoric.
The early-90s Milk Mustache campaign has become legendary. With close to 90 percent awareness in the United States, the campaign is heralded as one of the best marketing tactics still in existence. Icons including Hayden Panettiere, the Olsen twins, and Mischa Barton have all donned the mustache, and the campaign has gone global. Be sure to check out “Toma Leche?”, Mexico’s dairy industry campaign.
9206327648
