photo source: adweek.com/got milk? ad campaign

The California Milk Processor Board has pulled its controversial “Got Milk?” ads that positioned the dairy beverage as a cure-all for women's PMS symptoms. The milk board’s executive director, Steve James, says, “It certainly wasn’t our intention to offend people. We regret that. No question, with some people we have stepped over the line. We certainly misjudged the heat generated by people who thought we stepped over the line.”

The ads, which are featured on EverythingIDoIsWrong.org, featured men looking rather harried – perhaps because they have to deal with their hormonal female companions. The men are shown holding cartons of milk, and captions like “We can *both* blame myself” and “I’m sorry I listened to what you said and not what you meant” adorn the photos. Needless to say, plenty of people took issue with the advertisements.

The ads could be seen as offensive, since they paint women as unreasonable, vindictive monsters who have no control over their emotions. Needless to say, PMS does affect some women – but not all – and those women who do suffer from the effects of it likely didn’t appreciate the “humor.”

Still, the Milk Board says they don’t see this as a failure. James says taking down the website early (it was supposed to remain up until August) is “not a failure in any way. I don’t see it as ending or pulling the plug. We accomplished what we set out to accomplish.”

Jeff Goodby of the milk board’s longtime agency, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, says he was surprised at the outrage. “It’s certainly more controversial than we expected it to be. After three days, this thing was off the hook. We think it’s served its purpose.”

So – the purpose was to irritate and offend women, and the mission was accomplished? Not cool, milk board. Not cool.

source

Tags: california milk processors board, pms, got milk, women
Categories: Stuff