Ad Asks 'Got Chocolate Milk?'

The Got Milk? campaign, which has humorously pushed the virtues of white milk during the last several years, ventured this week into the world of the beverage's chocolate-flavored cousin.

In a 30-second TV spot that premiered Thursday in California, a headphone-wearing teen boy is on the search for chocolate milk, but comes up empty-handed after searching the fridge. Determined, he decides to empty an entire gallon of white milk into a box of "Cocoa Nuts" cereal and shakes it up to the beat of the tunes he's listening to, then pours himself a glass of his concocted chocolate milk.

He then shoves the carton of soggy cereal back in the kitchen cabinet for another household member to stumble upon. The ad ends with the message "Got Chocolate Milk?" reversed out of what organizers are calling a "deep chocolate brown background."

"Teens laughed and told us that this was a pretty cool spot," said Jeff Manning, executive director of the California Milk Processor Board, the organization that created the Got Milk? campaign. "Parents told us that their kids might actually try making chocolate milk this way, and they'd better start checking the cereal cabinet."

Chocolate milk consumption jumped 23% last year, Manning noted, with teens and pre-teens being the primary drinkers.

Humor will remain a mainstay of the campaign, he indicated.

"This campaign enjoys unprecedented awareness and longevity," Manning said, "because running out of milk, white or chocolate, will always be funny."

The dairy industry earlier this month released the results of a national survey of more than 1,000 parents that indicated 84% don't realize chocolate milk contains the same nine essential nutrients as its non-flavored counterpart. Other research indicates 40% of children said they would consume more milk if it were chocolate.

"Kids are downing more and more nutrient-empty beverages like sodas and juice drinks, and as a result, they're not getting the calcium they need at a crucial bone-building age,'' said physician Susan Baker, professor of pediatric gasteroenterology and nutrition at the Medical University of South Carolina. "But one of the best sources of nutrients--particularly calcium--is found in chocolate milk, which kids think of as fun to drink. It can be a parent's secret weapon in the kids' calcium crisis.''

In another effort to get the message out, the Got Milk?/Milk Mustache camp recently launched an ad featuring the characters Steve and Blue of the kids' TV show "Blue's Clues." In it, Steve wears a chocolate milk mustache while Blue has a plain milk version. Asking the question "Which is better for growing bones?" the ad explains that both provide vital calcium.

But while dieticians don't appear to be arguing about calcium levels in the two forms of milk, the jury still is out on whether chocolate milk consumption is such a good idea in terms of increased sugar intake.

A recent survey published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Assn. found that chocolate milk is among a number of food items (including soft drinks, sweets and table sugar) to blame for Americans' excess sugar consumption.

The dairy industry also is in the midst of a chocolate milk promotion debuting this month called "Chocolate: The Wilder Side of Milk." The campaign's twin goals are boosting per capita milk consumption and increasing grocery store profits.

The effort, which includes cash prizes for retailers and giveaways for young consumers, is being organized by the National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board.

Edited by Gerry Clark