Milk for PMS and Weight Loss--More Failed Marketing
In 2005, milk marketers tried to boost falling milk sales by positioning milk as a cure for premenstrual syndrome, commonly called PMS. TV ads showing bumbling boyfriends and husbands rushing to the store for milk to detoxify their stricken women. But the study on which the campaign was based, credited calcium, not milk, with relieving PMS--a substance found in many sources besides milk (including the "calcium-fortified juices" that milk marketers battle against). And when milk marketers tried to revive the PMS campaign in 2011, the second time around it elicited a tsunami of sexism charges and had to be scrapped.
Then, milk marketers sought an even wider demographic by
rolling out the idea of milk as a diet food. "Studies suggest that the nutrients in milk can play an important
role in weight loss. So if you're trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy
weight, try drinking 24 ounces of low-fat or fat-free milk every 24 hours as
part of your reduced-calorie diet," said the
ads. The diet campaign was especially targeted to the Hispanic community,
which is known both for its high obesity rates and its low milk consumption.
There was even a related school program called "Healthiest
Student Bodies," which recognized twenty-five schools around the
country for providing "an environment that encourages healthy choices for
students."
The milk-as-a-diet-food campaign had many catchy slogans--
"Milk Your Diet," "Body by Milk," "Think about Your
Drink," "Why Milk?" "24oz/24hours, 3-a-Day"
(and, of course, "Got Milk?")--and the help of hotties Elizabeth
Hurley and Sheryl Crowe modeling mustaches. But soon after it debuted, a study of twenty thousand men who increased their intake of
low-fat dairy foods found they did not
lose weight. "The hypothesis that has been floating around is that
increasing dairy can promote weight loss, and in this study, I did not find
that," said researcher Swapnil Rajpathak, MD, assistant professor in the
Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at the Albert Einstein College
of Medicine. Worse, the research behind the weight-loss claims was largely
conducted by Michael Zemel, Ph.D, director of the Nutrition Institute at the
University of Tennessee, who had "patented" the claim that calcium or
dairy products could help against obesity. The patent was owned by the
university and licensed to Dairy Management Inc., reported USA Today.
The milk-as-a-diet-food suggestions also did not sound like they would produce weight loss. They included, "Make soups and chowders with milk," "Add milk to risotto and rice dishes for a creamier texture," and "Order a milk-based soup like corn chowder, potato leek or cream of broccoli as a first course at dinner." What is the next course--a stick of butter?
Soon the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Bureau of Consumer
Protection directed
milk marketers to stop the weight-loss campaign "until further
research provides stronger, more conclusive evidence of an association between dairy consumption and weight
loss." Milk marketing materials stopped claiming that milk makes drinkers
lose weight, instead saying it doesn't necessarily add weight --which is pretty different. They also retooled their
claims to say that milk may have "certain
nutrients that can help consumers meet dietary requirements"--pretty
much the definition of "food."
In February, milk marketers went for an even wider
demographic--the set of all people who eat little or no breakfast--or at least
a breakfast without milk. Using the bilingual actress Salma Hayek as
pitchwoman, the new campaign, called the Breakfast
Project, also targets Spanish
speaking communities with ads in People en Espaà ±ol and Ser Padres magazines and
on the Univision morning show "Despierta Amà ©rica" as well as on
English speaking media. "It's Not Breakfast Without Milk," say the
new slogans; "Because Every Good Day Starts With Milk," and
"Hello, Sunshine."
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