Got Milk?
About
Got Milk? is an advertisement campaign designed to help increase milk sales in the United States. Since the campaign’s launch in 1993, numerous parodies and imitations have been found both online and in the real world using the snowclone Got X?
Origin
In 1993, The California Milk Processor Board launched the “Got Milk?” advertisement campaign as a way to encourage public consumption of cow’s milk. Working with the ad agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners[1], the first commercial for the campaign aired on October 29th, 1993, featuring a man sitting in a room that appears to be a shrine to the historical duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.[2] In the commercial, the man calls in to a radio station’s trivia contest for a $10,000 prize, but he fails to utter his response with his mouth full of peanut butter sandwhich. Directed by Michael Bay, the commercial went on to win a 1994 Silver Lion award at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, a Gold award at the 1994 CLIO Awards, and was inducted into the CLIOAdvertising Hall of Fame in 2009.[3]
Following the campaign's successful reception, the National Milk Processor Board[4] licensed the slogan for their print ads, pairing the phrase with celebrity portraits of actors, musicians, athletes and fictional characters with a milk mustache. Since its launch in 1995, hundreds of these ads have been published; a collection of 300 "Got Milk?" posters is currently hosted at Creative Criminals.[5] As of May 2012, the campaign continues to remain active on Facebook and Twitter, both under the tagline “Got Milk?”[6][7] and “Milk Mustache Campaign.”[8][9]
Spread
According to Fortune Magazine's article "Got Milk? Got Books? Got a Clue?"[20], copycat campaigns based on the snowclone began appearing as early as 1998, such as "Got Death?" ads for Combat insecticide products and "Got porn?" display sign at an adult bookstore. The article also noted that the California Milk Processor Board saw the parodies as free advertisement for their campaign, despite the unauthorized nature of its usage.
Also in the late 1990s, “Got Rice?”[25] began appearing as a humorous slogan for Asian-American pride. A parody song using several variations including "Got Rice?" was first shared on Newgrounds[24] in September 2000. In response to the abundance of online parodies, the California Milk Processor Board eventually began selling a poster[22] (below) with 100 “Got Milk?” parody phrases in July 2005. Two years later, The Snowclones Database [23] added “Got X?” to the site. The single topic blog Milking Got Milk[26] was created in November 2009 to aggregate photos of “Got X?” found in real life, with hundreds of instances shared as of May 2012.
Notable Examples
Controversy: PETA Parody Ad
The California Milk Processor Board has threatened to take legal action twice against the nonprofit group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for negatively parodying their slogan. In August 2000, PETA put up "Got Prostate Cancer?"[13] billboards featuring former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani in Wisconsin while he was being treated for the disease, associating it with milk consumption.[11] PETA issued an apology[12] the following month and removed the images.
Two years later, PETA launched another campaign titled "Got Pus?"[14], arguing that milk may contain blood and pus from the infected udders of overworked dairy cows. The campaign ran relatively unnoticed until December 2007, when lawyers for the California Milk Processing Board sent a cease and desist letter, stating that the campaign was infringing the "Got Milk?" trademark.[15] While the story was reported by MSNBC[16], USA Today[17] and the New York Times[18], it is unclear whether or not PETA was actually sued, as their store[19] still carries Got Pus? items.
Ad Retirement
On Monday February 24th, 2014, the National Milk Industry announced[27] the retirement of their "Got Milk?" ad campaign and revealed the launch of it's new campaign "Milk Life" focusing on the nutritional value of milk. The Milk Industry opted to stick with the Lowe Campbell Ewald advertising agency who was also involved in the “Got Milk” campaign.[28]
Search Interest
Though the original slogan "Got Milk" has since declined in popularity, it is still considered once of the top parodied advertisement campaigns of all time.[10]
External References
[1] Goodby, Silverstein & Partners – Home
[2] Wikipedia – Burr-Hamilton Duel
[3] Inspiration Room – Aaron Burr Got Milk
[5] Creative Criminals – Got Milk: Most Complete Compilation
[8] Facebook – Milk Mustache Campaign
[9] Twitter – @MilkMustache
[10] Google Books – A Million Words and Counting: How Global English is Rewriting the World
[11] LA Times – PETA Knockoffs of 'Got Milk' Ads Tasteless, Exploitative, Giuliani Says
[12] Dairy Network – PETA apologizes for Got Milk? parody
[13] PETA – What inspired your “Got Prostate Cancer?” Campaign?
[14] Food Production Daily – PETA launches 'Got Pus?' campaign
[15] PETA Files – Dairy Lawyers Threaten PETA Over "Got Milk?" Parody
[16] MSNBC – ‘Got Pus?’ merchandise may land PETA in court
[17] USA Today – Suit threatened over Got Milk? parody
[18] New York Times – Get Squeamish?
[20] Fortune Archive – Got Milk? Got Books? Got a Clue?
[21] Answers – Got Milk? Parodies and References
[22] Adweek – The top 100 spoofs of ‘Got milk?’
[27] NY Daily News ‘Got Milk’ ad campaign retired after 20 years of milk moustaches
[28] Yahoo News R.I.P. 'Got Milk?' (1993-2014)
