Creative Showcase: Got Milk?

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Client: CA Fluid Milk Processors/Got Milk?
Creative Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners; North Kingdom

The initial brief for planetinneed.com was to re-introduce milk to consumers. With sales of milk declining, we needed to remind people of all the benefits of nature's wonder drink. We wanted them to literally see milk through new eyes, to rediscover this familiar beverage as the Miracle Elixir it really is.

The website launched simultaneously with five 30 second TV spots. The over-arching creative idea concerns a race of calcium deficient aliens, the Brittlelacticans, who come to earth in search of DA IRY-- the Supreme One (an unsuspecting dairy cow) in hopes of obtaining the White Wonder Tonic. To give this story depth beyond the TV ads, we created two different online worlds, which tell the story from the different sides involved: the dairy farmers and the aliens.

The first world (cowabduction.com) is a seemingly low-tech, unbranded teaser site by the farmers, whose cows were going missing. Viewers can see photographic evidence of the abductions, read the latest news and advice from farmers, and post their own evidence as well.

The second world (planetinneed.com) is a deep, interactive dive into the world of Brittlelactica, showcasing DA IRY, the aliens and their many health ailments. Viewers can visit regions of the planet (such as Cavitopia and PMStonia), speak directly to DA IRY, as well as watch the TV spots. Interestingly, the site doesn't use the word milk and doesn't show any milk, yet the online experience leaves no doubt as to the health benefits of the product.

There's been over one million visits to the two websites since they launched in March, as well as countless references in blogs and trade publications. Ultimately, the interactive has achieved its goal; to generate buzz around the campaign, and to provide a detailed look into the many benefits of the most miraculous drink in the universe: milk.
-- Mike Geiger, department head, interactive production, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners

Creative Showcase is meant to be a teaching tool and an inspiration for our readers. We comment only on creative that we really love. Our panelists discuss what makes it great, but if they feel there were missed opportunities that would have made it better, we invite them to mention those. And finally, we seek out a wide range of opinions that reflect the marketplace for the panel, in order to provide constructive, useable feedback for agencies, clients and others involved in these creative pieces.

North Kingdom and Goodby Silverstein's "Got Milk?" campaign is one of my favorites of the year. It's so overboard, and beyond what you could ever possibly expect, that you spend the entire time interacting with the campaign just waiting for what is going to happen next. Its use of technology is superb (it better be, because there are some long load times), it's completely original, and the level of writing, production and acting is top-notch.
 
It does everything it should in conveying the benefits of milk, in the context of a Star Wars-esque fantasyworld that will keep young audiences intrigued and engaged for long periods of time. The ads I've seen just beg to be clicked upon-- because they are just so darn weird. Kudos to the milk marketers for taking a chance on something so otherworldly-- in many ways. If viral aspects were pushed to the front of the experience just a bit more, I'd give it a perfect score.
 
I give it 4.75 out of 5 udders. Great job guys.
-- Ian Schafer, president, Deep Focus  

The "Got Milk?" campaigns have always been noteworthy for their originality, and their new online venues are definitely worthy of attention and investigation. The latest site, planetinneed.com, provides the backstory for the occurrences on the partner site cowabduction.com, and tells the story of a planet called Brittelactica where everyone is in dire need of a super-sized glass of milk (and all its touted benefits).

The planetinneed site is chock full of video vignettes, interactive experiences and goodies to download for milk lovers everywhere. The site is a bit heavy, especially on a shared T1, and one has to exhibit a lot of patience waiting for each segment to load. In most cases however, it's worth it, as the production value and storytelling is exceptional. The overall tone and characterization of the videos has a Galaxy Quest-type feel to it, and all of the vignettes are humorous and surprisingly entertaining. (My favorite line occurs during the pre-abduction scene in a barn when the advance party approaches their cow of choice with some dry straw in hand and declares "please accept this offering of dead vegetation in return for your wonder tonic.").

As far as interactivity goes, this site is loaded with it. It features everything from a translator which allows you to pose questions to the wise cow, a scientific extrapolation of what the Brittelacticans have learned about the cow thusfar, mission archives and much more. There's plenty to experience here for those with an extraordinary fascination with milk and also a large pipe of bandwidth at their disposal. This site is definitely a worthy destination-- I'm just curious about how much traffic it actually gets and how long visitors actually stay in their attempt to satisfy their thirst for milk information.
-- Jason Scheidt, director of marketing, EyeWonder, Inc.