Did “Got Milk?” Got Sales?

The “Got Milk?” campaign is famous, lauded, & iconic. 

Nearly 300 celebs participated over 2 decades. Even Yoda had a milk mustache in ‘99.  

But did it work? “Look at the data, you must.” 

Well, milk was already on a 20-year slide. The campaign might’ve slooowed the decline of whole milk. And skim milk, which was already slowly rising, had a good few years.

But overall, the campaign was more beloved than it was besuccessful. It impacted culture but not sales (which, btw, was its actual goal). 

Great art? Yes. Great ads? Hmmm.

Some lessons:

• Fame is awesome, but it doesn’t guarantee effectiveness

• We can love ads even if they don’t work

• We should be careful what we lionize (pun intended) in adland