A New Docuseries Revisits the ‘Got Milk?’ Campaign

Behind the campaign

“Got Milk?” became one of the most recognisable advertising campaigns of the 1990s. Its commercials featured celebrities and fictional characters wearing the campaign’s trademark milk moustaches, including Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Frankie Muniz and SpongeBob SquarePants.

According to Variety, “The Price of Milk” will revisit that campaign in a four-part series premiering on July 2 on Documentary+. The programme will examine the advertising phenomenon alongside the dairy industry, public programmes and the farmers whose funds helped finance the marketing effort.

Filmmakers Nicholas Bruckman and Yoni Brook present the campaign’s cultural reach as the starting point for a broader account. They also document a continuing decline in American milk consumption, despite the visibility generated by the advertisements.

Following the money

The first episode examines the industry-funded structure that paid for “Got Milk?” and introduces dairy farmers who opposed influential advertising and corporate interests. Other episodes consider government attempts to promote dairy consumption through products and meals including stuffed-crust pizza and fast-food items containing large amounts of cheese.

The series also looks at how shifts in American diets affected smaller dairy farms and at efforts to attract new consumers. Its subjects include a large dairy attraction in Indiana, students questioning the traditional role of milk in school cafeterias, and activists studying the environmental effects of large-scale dairy production.

Oatly financed the documentary, but the filmmakers say the company required only that the series focus on milk. They say they kept editorial control, while the company’s participation is disclosed in a title card. The series uses the white-moustache advertisements to examine advertising, farming, government policy and changes in American eating habits.