Got Milk? Time for the Sacred Cow to Die

It had its run, but it's been running since 1993. Lauded industry-wide, showered with awards and copied in countless, pointless, stupid parodies, the "got milk?" campaign from Goodby Silverstein & Partners is done. In it's original incarnation, the line was asked after someone was eating something that went well with milk. That made total sense. It has since morphed into a celebrity milk-mustache poster that reinforces the benefits of drinking milk. I say it's time to just get back to pairing milk with items that go very well with milk. You aren't drinking a glass of milk with a fruit salad. You aren't drinking a glass of milk after you work out. Please. It's not a diet food. It's not a refresher. It's milk, damnit. (And speaking of cow-themed campaigns that are way over, can someone please tell Chik-Fil-A's agency that the "Eat mor Chikin" thing is DONE.) And since the true measure of success for advertising is, "Did it sell more product?" the "Got Milk?" campaign should've been retired years ago. According to Wikipedia, "The campaign has been credited with greatly increasing milk sales in California, though not nationwide."

You don't need a clever tagline for milk. Milk is milk. It goes great with some things. So here are some posters I accidentally came up with when I downloaded a weird food font that had a piece of cake as one of the characters. This goes back to the original concept of the campaign, only even more straightforward than before. It's not a question. It's a statement of fact. Milk. Period.

And the next real estate agent who has "Got a Realtor?" as their slogan should be shot. And if you have a bumper sticker that asks me if I "Got Jesus?" I'm going to throw milk on your car.

GM, Goodby Pulling Stupid Stunt

In today's New York Times, an internal Chevrolet memo is reported on, and I'm calling "Bullshit." According to two idiots in GM's upper management,

"We’d ask that whether you’re talking to a dealer, reviewing dealer advertising or speaking with friends and family, that you communicate our brand as Chevrolet moving forward."

They also say,

"When you look at the most recognized brands throughout the world, such as Coke or Apple for instance, one of the things they all focus on is the consistency of their branding. Why is this consistency so important? The more consistent a brand becomes, the more prominent and recognizable it is with the consumer. This is a big opportunity for us moving forward."

As if Coke isn't also called Coca-Cola. And yes, they said, "Moving forward" twice. The article then quotes one Klaus-Peter Martin, a GM spokesman, who confirmed the memo, saying, "We’re going to use Chevrolet instead of Chevy going forward in our communications." Martin said the move is linked to Chevy's switch to new agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.

Going forward. Moving forward. Branding. Consistency in branding. Bullshit. As if Chevy isn't just as well known a name (if not more so) as Chevrolet. If this is Goodby's doing, I'm disappointed. An agency known for good work shouldn't pull stupid stunts like this. This has the stench of set-up. I suspect a turnaround in a few months. A calculated and transparent "change of heart" where the big wigs at Chevy will announce something to the effect of,

"The American people have spoken. They love the nickname "Chevy." We miscalculated in our efforts to be consistent in our branding. We can no more change America's mind about America's favorite car than we could ask them not to salute the flag, eat apple pie and play baseball. Going forward, you can call Chevrolet "Chevy" all you want, and you can keep calling it America's favorite car."

If I'm wrong and this isn't just a stupid stunt, then it's just plain stupid. A brand should be lucky to have an affectionate nickname. McDonald's embraces "Mickey D's" and up until now, Chevrolet has always embraced "Chevy."

And not surprisingly, a few pages after the article is a full-page ad from Chevy announcing that its Equinox model has won some award from Consumer's Digest. And where do they tell us we can go to learn more? Chevy.com.

(Go on. Click it. I worked hard mutilating this old Chevy ad)

Hippie Bay Area Freaks Making Trippy Spots

A reader writes:

I'm not sure if you have Comcast in Florida, but their latest commercial is stuck in my brain...the tune is catchy and the animation is bizarre. People seem to either love it or hate it...thought you might get a kick out of it if you haven't seen it.

Nope, we have Bright House where I live - and they usually suck madly. I'm posting in the intermittent window of online availability that comes and goes with random predictability. A technician will be here Tuesday, between the hours of 8:00 AM and noon.

From the almost-always-geniuses at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.



Stuck in my head now.

Hey Now

I approve. Two compound words, two syllables each. Message conveyed.

Big Idea - no CGI

Hate being late to the game, but I just saw this last night on Comedy Central during Colbert (I think). I love the notion of innovative low tech ideas that grab your eye. This one plays on Sprint's theme of "Speed of Light."



I know Sprint has had some troubles of late and is in hot water for firing some of their more bitchy customers, but they seem to be making moves against the monolith of AT&T /Apple and its glroious new Savior of the Universe, the iPhone. I don't know how Sprint's service works, as I've been locked into Cingular/AT&T for too long.

I'm pretty sure every service has its pitfalls and drawbacks - and all you're left with to distinguish them in the end is marketing. This does that, I think. As someone pointed out on American Copywriter, the writing could use some tweaking, but still, it's not bad.

Notes on YouTube say the park this was shot at is Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco and that the music is by Architecture in Helsinki.