New Got Milk? Ad Reminds People That Cows Don't Operate on Microchips;Y2Kud' Begins Airing Week of August 30

BERKELEY, Calif., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Taking a lighthearted look at the national fear over a millennium "meltdown," the California Milk Processor Board today unveiled a 30-second television ad that will begin airing this week. Called "Y2Kud," the off-beat spot communicates that even in the midst of global crises like computer glitches and transportation mayhem, milk remains constant and irreplaceable.

"We've taken a very different approach to the Y2K craziness," says Jeff Manning, executive director, CMPB. "Playing up 2000 doomsday is a hot ticket with marketers. We plan to make fun of the hype, to turn it to milk's advantage. Cows don't operate on microchips."

In the new spot, produced by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, a Holstein blissfully chews grass in a moon-lit farm yard. In the background is an old barn, illuminated by a single, overhead light. A radio countdown begins...9, 8, 7... As the new year arrives the light short-circuits, showering sparks and startling the cow. As if scripted, she looks over her shoulder as a man's panic-stricken voice asks what's going on. The cow resumes her munching, clearly oblivious to the national hysteria.

The titles slowly read: "Cows...Y2K Ready." As always, the spot ends with "GOT MILK?."

"Y2Kud" is the thirty-first spot from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, the agency that launched GOT MILK?(R) in 1993. One of the most memorable and long-running campaigns in history, GOT MILK? boasts national consumer recall of over ninety percent, and has been licensed for use on more than 40 products.

"'Y2Kud' proves that GOT MILK? is an amazingly pliant campaign. One that can leverage virtually any event," says Manning. "That's why it's no longer just an ad, but has become part of our popular culture."

The California Milk Processor Board was established in 1993 to make milk more competitive against the assaults of soft drinks and other non-alcoholic beverages. It is funded by all California milk processors and administered by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

SOURCE California Milk Processor Board

-- FM (vidprof@aol.com), September 01, 1999

Answers

Of course the milking machines are all compliant, as are the feed-machines which now calculate the proper feed mix for each herd.

Got feed?

Got milkers?

-- nothere nothere (notherethere@hotmail.com), September 01, 1999.

Got Bag Balm?

-- Don (whytocay@hotmail.com), September 01, 1999.

Got Advil?

Hands will really start too hurting trying to keep up with those milkings when the powers out. You know what happens when a milk cow misses a few milkings.

-- Johnny (JLJTM@BELLSOUTH.NET), September 01, 1999.

FM,

What interesting timing. Today in the Chicago Trib we were finally treated to the long awaited 'prepare for a blizzard' article titled "Hoarding may be biggest bug as Y2K approaches, panel says"

here is the part that caught my attention:

..But while things generally are expected to go smoothly nationally, "We are concerned about people overreacting," John Koskinen, chairman of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, said during the panel discussion. Even if there were no major computer snafus, there will be problems "if 100 million people decide to do anything differently," he said.

Such contingencies could range from withdrawing substantially more money than usual from savings accounts to purchasing several extra gallons of milk.(snip)

I had never seen Milk used as an example before....but it is interesting to me that the implication is that if Milk is in short supply, it will be because people hoarded it.

-- Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), September 01, 1999.

Sorry, here's the link....

Chicago Tribune

:-)

-- Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), September 01, 1999.

I still don't know where they get off saying "the national fear". I've seen that said before in other articles, and every time I think "huh"? If there's national fear, everyone's sure keeping it well hidden. Why do they keep insisting on saying that?

-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), September 01, 1999.

Bwaaahaaahaaaa.....

Will someone PLEASE go round to these guys and tell them politely about the principles of the supply chain ? Preferably with a large basebaall bat ?

Whatever next - compliant sheep ? Compliant dogs ? Sorry, I forgot.... Sanyo brought out a compliant plastic bread cutter that is purely mechanical. I get it I GET IT - Forget about the non compliance of the vital stuff, just label everything else compliant (like cows, sheep, dogs, cats etc.) to compensate .....

And I thought WE were behind in our awareness in the UK.....

Bwaaahaaahaaaa.....

< merville is getting a tad angry with the use of alien logic used these days. pLease forgive me. At the end of the year you'll understand .... >

-- Rob Somerville (merville@globalnet.co.uk), September 01, 1999.

Got computers? Large farms these days are computerised. Mostly PC's, but the distribution system that gets it to the door is another thing. Milk has always been JIT, like any other perishable commodity.

Once the dairy farmer across the road lost power, and he didn't have a generator in those days. Every kid on this end of the road went and helped him milk by hand. 300 head is a lot of cows!

-- Forrest Covington (theforrest@mindspring.com), September 02, 1999.