California cheese ads tout happy cows

California might be rife with controversy over its milk-standards policy, but that doesn't mean the state's 1.5 million dairy cows aren't happy campers.

At least that's what a new $17 million TV ad campaign for Real California Cheese is claiming.

The spots, which began running Oct. 16, are sponsored by the California Milk Advisory Board. The organization has produced three tongue-in-cheek 30-second ads to kick off the campaign, with the initial spot showing a group of dairy cows grazing in a field located next to a farmhouse. The cows start singing happily, stopping when the farmer's wife steps onto the porch. Once the woman goes back inside the house, the cows start into song again.

"Great cheese comes from happy cows," states the ad's voiceover. "Happy cows come from California. Real California Cheese. It's the cheese."

Another spot shows a traumatized cow recalling the blizzards she confronted living in the Midwest, while a third ad depicts bulls talking about how California cows are better-looking than ones from other states.

"After five years, we felt it was time to refresh the campaign creatively and we also wanted to strengthen our message by telling consumers why California cheese is so good," CMAB CEO Adri Boudewyn said. "One of the reasons is that our cheesemakers start with very high quality milk—there's no better milk in the country than what we produce here in California. These happy cows allow us to emphasize the quality of the milk in a memorable and humorous way."

However, the question of California milk quality has provoked battle after battle within the Golden State and from beyond.

Phoenix, AZ-based Shamrock Foods Co. and the California state attorney general's office in September began facing off in a court case that's putting the coastal state's nearly four-decades-old stricter-than-federal milk standards to the legal test. (See related article).

California currently enforces milk calcium and protein levels above the federal standard through added milk solids. The policy stipulates that milk carry added "solids not fat" levels, which the state's dairy industry says translates to increased calcium and protein per serving vs. milk sold in the rest of the nation.

California Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments between the two parties Sept. 7 in the contest, which stems from an appellate court ruling more than a year ago that Shamrock didn't violate California law by selling milk that didn't meet the state's standards.

Observers have said that if Shamrock proves victorious, California's dairy processors probably will start manufacturing milk that meets federal, but not state, standards to slice costs and boost their products' competitiveness in the face of out-of-state milk entering California.

In April, California legislators overwhelmingly defeated two bills aimed at amending the standards. (See related article).

CMAB's earlier TV campaign, which included 17 ads between 1995 and 2000, used humor in relaying the position that the real reason people come to California is because of the cheese.

"The original campaign has been very successful in building awareness for Real California Cheese, which is what we set out to do," said Michael Freeman, CMAB's advertising services director. "Our research shows that eight out of 10 Californians are aware of the advertising. Also, two out of three California consumers report they have seen the Real California Cheese seal where they shop, and of these, 90% report purchasing cheese carrying the seal.

"We decided it was time to raise our objectives and move from simply building awareness to creating a preference for Real California Cheese," Freeman said. "We do that with the new campaign by telling consumers that one of the reasons why California cheese tastes so good is because it's made from fresh, high-quality California milk."

Edited by Gerry Clark