Got Milk? Eat my shorts!

Don’t expect this will be making mainstream news. From a marketing e-newsletter I subscribe to:

NEW YORK -- GOT MILK? the catchy trademark of the California Milk Processor Board (CMPB), will soon appear on men's boxers and baby clothes sold in Wal-Mart and other major retailers.

GOT MILK? will be cross-licensed with character properties such as Cookie Monster, Garfield and the Pillsbury Doughboy. GOT MILK? designs will be sold through Wal-Mart. Plans call for expansion into women's apparel via Target Corp. within the next six months.

Cutie Pie Baby, New York, will feature GOT MILK? on baby and toddler apparel, including bodysuits, burp cloths, bibs and blankets and on select hardgoods such as baby bottles and sippy cups. The line will retail at Babies "R" Us, Buy Buy Baby, Baby Depot and Macys.com beginning in September.

The CMPB, a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase milk sales and consumption in California, is funded by California milk processors and administered by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. It began its licensing program in 1995 with GOT MILK? Barbie and now has more than 100 product licensees.

San Francisco advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners created the GOT MILK? ad campaign in 1993.

Now, you don’t have to have experience working with non-profits or in marketing to see the problem in the CMPB being labeled (and given government approval to be) a non-profit organization given its mission to “increase milk sales and consumption in California.” This is an industry-funded, arm’s length marketing department for milk producers. D’uh!

So, many may say, what’s the problem with trying to get more people to drink milk? After all, milk is one of the most healthy drinks available. For goodness sake, without milk our babies would never grow up big and strong.

And that’s the problem with industry creating fake non-profits to support their business goals. Where do you think this myth, that drinking cow’s milk helps build strong bones, came from? Well-funded, so-called third party organizations like the CMPB, of course.

Don’t believe me? I don’t blame you. Milk equals bone-builder is one of those entrenched myths that have been repeated so often it’s attained indisputable fact status. Read the milk fact sheet at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

The PCRM is a non-profit organization that promotes preventive medicine, especially good nutrition. PCRM also conducts clinical research studies, opposes unethical human experimentation, and promotes alternatives to animal research.

These folks ran a clever counter Got Milk? ad that challenges Dr. Phil to Get Real about his assertion that milk helps people lose weight.

And a very well-researched article on milk, the not-so-perfect food, can be found in the July edition of Shared Vision.