What is your favorite ad campaign of all time? Mine is the “Got Milk?” ad campaign that began running in 1993. Since then, it has arguably become one of the most successful ad campaigns of all time.
Did you also know that in California there are even bus stop shelters with “Got Milk?” written on the side? But get this, these bus shelters smell like chocolate chip cookies! Now that’s my kind of bus stop!
There are also ads encouraging us to drink our calcium in Mexico (¿Toma Leche?), Switzerland, Germany, Canada, India, Australia, South Africa and Brazil.
According to Wikipedia, “The slogan “got milk?” was licensed to the National Milk Processor Board in 1998 to use on their celebrity print ads, which since 1993, included celebrities from the fields of sports, media and entertainment, as well as fictional characters from TV and film such as The Simpson and Batman, posing in print advertisements sporting a “milk moustache”, employing the slogan, “Where’s your mustache?”
This is the very first “Got Milk?” commercial ever. This commercial, featuring actor Sean Whalen and directed by Michael Bay, is the original created over fifteen years ago:
There is no doubt that this ad campaign has increased milk sales, which were dropping for 20 years before these ads. But, in the States, where milk is seen as a kid’s beverage (when was the last time you saw an adult order milk with dinner in a restaurant?), has it increased milk consumption among adults? I don’t know the answer to that question, but I know that I almost always think of a milk mustache every time I drink a glass of milk.
Here is a small sampling of some of those very memorable ads. Enjoy!
