Got Milk? An illustration-packed look at the advertising campaign
Written: Oct 26 '02 (Updated Sep 06 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fun, entertaining paperback perfect for all ages.
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: Informative, fun, highly-illustrated (color photos throughout) look at "the advertising campaign of the '90s." To be savored and enjoyed by the whole family.
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| Don_Krider's Full Review: |
"How do you make milk cool?"
That's the question posed by the authors of "The Milk Mustache Book: A Behind-The-Scenes Look At America's Favorite Advertising Campaign."
The authors
The authors (Jay Schulberg, Bernie Hogya and Sal Taibi) offer a personal look at the creation of the "Got Milk?" advertising campaign of Bozell Worldwide, the New York advertising agency.
Their knowledge of the subject is first-hand --- all the authors (as of 1998) work for Bozell Worldwide: Schulberg is vice chairman and chief creative officer of the firm (responsible for successful ad campaigns for numerous firms, including The New York Times and Merrill Lynch); Hogya is the firm's creative director (as well as director or supervisor of every ad in the "Got Milk?" campaign), and Taibi is the firm's senior partner and account director (overseeing the campaign for the Milk Processor Education Program).
Milk --- the cool drink?
In the dark ages of 1994, the days before the milk enlightenment the advertising campaign would bring about, sales of milk were continuing a 30-year decline. Short of mobilizing the U. S. Marines and forcing people to drink milk because it "builds strong bones," the nation's milk processors (the packagers of milk) pondered an educational advertising campaign to "reeducate the public about the importance of milk in their diets," according to the authors.
When the milk processors pondered the question, "Who you gonna call?," they called Bozell Worldwide (the firm won the Grand Prix award from the International Advertising Festival in Cannes in 1994 for its "Snow Covered" promotion for Jeep, beating out 5,000 other entries).
Bozell took the challenge to make milk cool to drink again (quite a challenge in the age of soda pop, bottled tea and bottled waters).
After considerable research to find out why people were consuming less milk than ever before and into the health benefits of milk, the agency began its campaign of world media conquest.
The concept
Bozell's creative team adopted a simple approach. Ad copy would be "limited to only four lines," according to the authors. "...we believed that if the visual had stopping power and if the copy was charmingly and engagingly written, if it made you smile, we had a very good chance of getting our health message across."
Designed as a poster campaign, with each advertisement designed to reflect the personality of the celebrity featured in the ad, each ad featured a different celebrity with a "milk mustache" above their lips.
The first year's advertising tag line was "Milk. What A Surprise!" "The public gave it its own title: the milk mustache campaign," according to the authors. Today, the tag line "Got Milk?" can be seen beaming from magazines and billboards across the United States.
The book
In a creative, often-humorous style, the authors detail the history of the campaign, including early, rejected ideas such as the picture of an upside-down cow with the word "milk" on the side of the page (the authors' ask themselves, "...do you know anyone who reads a page sideways?").
This is a detailed analysis of a client (the milk industry) working hand-in-hand with its ad agency to create a successful campaign. Tie-in celebrated photographer Annie Leibovitz (Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair magazines are among her outlets) with her celebrity shots and you've got an impressive coffee table-style book.
The celebrities
There has been no shortage of celebrities for the campaign and the book shows most of them. Despite the initial offer of "only" $25,000 for every celebrity, celebrities who command millions of dollars per project not only took the job (some donating the money to charity), but many actually campaigned to be in the ads (academy award-winning director Ron Howard among them; Howard's daughter, like thousands of people across the United States, collects the advertisements).
The spoofs
The book includes a humorous section on "Spoofs, Parodies, Rip-Offs" such as Leslie Nielson as Dracula asking "Got Blood?"
Recommendation
The whole family will enjoy this illustration-packed, 153-page (plus introduction) paperback. The book has sold more than 250,000 copies since its 1998 release (making The New York Times Top 10 best-sellers list that year).
The book's appeal is broad --- fans of the celebrities will get a kick out of it, while students of photography and advertising (perfect for the college student planning on entering this field) will be equally enthralled by the book.
To their credit, the book's authors have donated "all royalties" to charity.
In 2001, Hogya and Taibi authored a sequel for Scholastic Books entitled "Milk Mustache Mania." That book has the same broad appeal, but younger children will especially enjoy seeing cartoon heroes with "milk mustaches" such as Superman, Spider-man, The Incredible Hulk and The Powerpuff Girls.
In 2004, Hogya, who runs the official website for singer Eric Carmen, joined Goldmine magazine writer Ken Sharp to write an authorized biography, "Eric Carmen: Marathon Man." In 2005, the same Hogya and Sharp wrote the book biography of Carmen's reunited band, "Raspberries TONIGHT!"
Other books by Bernie Hogya:
"Milk Mustache Mania: An Inside Look At One Of Your Favorite Ad Campaigns" by Bernie Hogya and Sal Talbi: http://www.epinions.com/content_212241911428
"Eric Carmen: Marathon Man" by Bernie Hogya and Ken Sharp: http://www.epinions.com/content_153762500228
"Raspberries TONIGHT" By Bernie Hogya and Ken Sharp: http://www.epinions.com/content_217001201284
Albums designed by Bernie Hogya:
Featuring a CD cover and booklet designed by Bernie Hogya --- Raspberries "Live On Sunset Strip" (with liner notes by Bruce Springsteen): http://www.epinions.com/content_393207123588
Recommended:
Yes
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Don_Krider
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 in Music, Electronics, Musical Instruments |
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Member: Don Krider
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Reviews written: 301
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About Me:
Fan of power pop (Raspberries, Badfinger, Cheap Trick, The Knack, Romantics, Slade,Sweet...) --- "Play On"!!!
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