Morn always said milk was good for you. But Mom hasn’t been heeding her own advice. For decades, milk consumption has trickled downward while that of cola has nearly tripled. Among beverages, milk ranks fourth in popularity after soft drinks, coffee and beer.
Pepsi is trying to raise milk’s profile by applying the marketing tactics that have spread cola to all parts of the globe. The company is starting smaller, test marketing a beverage called Smooth Moos Smoothies in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. It is a 2% fat dairy shake package in old-fashioned milk bottles, and it comes in such flavors as double chocolate and banana. The product gives consumers 25% of their daily calcium requirement and keeps retailers happy with a shelflife (保质期) of nine months. "Here was an opportunity to take something traditionally thought of as a commonplace and make it fun and dynamic," says April Thornton, director of new products at Pepsi. Don’t look for Cindy Crawford endorsement: at about 250 calories, Smooth Moos tops a can of Pepsi by 100 calories.
Italy’s milk giant Parmalat also has cola on its mind. The company makes boxed, ultra-heated milk, popular in Italy that has a shelf life of up to six months. In the U.S. market, Parmalat has introduced boxed and fresh varieties and is spending $25 million on advertising in an effort to make itself "the Coca-Cola of milk".
The milk mustache campaign, with such notables as Christie Brinkley, Jennifer Aniston and Lauren Bacall sporting white upper lips and exclaiming, "Milk, what a surprise!" has been running since last January. The National Fluid Milk Processor Board has also joined forces with its California counterpart to license a series of TV spots called "Got Milk" The theme is that people only think about milk when they haven’t got it. "For the first time the industry is focusing on milk as a beverage," says Gordon McDonald, senior vice president at the American Dairy Association. "Using beverage-marketing tactics can work for milk. Milk products, packaging and advertising haven’t changed in 25 years, but now we are taking a look at all these things to make milk more competitive."
Is it The answer may well be yes. Boosted by the campaigns, milk sales have increased for the first time in decades, up 9% over last year. That’s not enough to strain the dairy herd, and milk’s not going to be replacing Chardonnay at Hollywood parties. But for a product that’s been in a 30-year funk (怯懦), it’s not a bad start to a comeback. By "For the first time...as a beverage", Gordon McDonald implies that