“Milk” Propaganda
The question in today’s day and age is what can be considered milk. The question “what is milk’ seems to be such an easy question to answer since we assume milk is from a mammal. Milk today is now considered to be from almonds, oats, soy, or other plant-based alternatives. Approximately 67% of U.S. adults have either tried non-dairy milk and roughly 1 in 3 drink it at least weekly. (Meyers) Comparing this to the percentages from 1996, Americans were drinking on average about 24 gallons of milk a year according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. (Bull) There has been a drastic change in the amount of dairy milk the U.S. population has been consuming and a large shift towards vegan “milk”. “Whole nondairy milk has risen from the dusty shelves of health-food stores to Times Square billboards and supermarkets around the country, dairy farmers have faced economic turmoil. The question now is not whether anyone’s got milk. It’s how to sell it.” This can be due to the fact of symbols and rhetorical strategies that are attracting audiences’ attention. (Bull)
I huge symbol of drinking dairy milk has been the milk mustache. The slogan “Got Milk” started around 25 years ago. This slogan was stretched across nearly 350 print advertisements and more than 70 television commercials featuring some of the most famous people in America. These stars consisted of Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift. Today, plant-based milk has grown 5% in 2020 with sales of plant-based dairy products approaching $2 billion making it the largest plant-based category in North America. (Hale) This shift in milk is driven by factors such as concerns about animal welfare, health and wellness, and sustainability. “Clean eating — a catchall phrase for a mostly plant-based diet free of processed foods — has become the North Star for many Americans looking to balance their desire for health with a desire to be thin, dairy been branded as ‘unclear’. (Bull) Information such as dairy gives you acne or makes you bloated is a direct example of how non-dairy milk is growing its fame.
This message to make the switch to non-dairy milk is encountered by people in their daily lives. Just as the “Got Milk” slogan stretched across nearly every advertisement and television commercial, the push to non-dairy milk is doing the same thing. A huge way they are doing this is through advertisements. One specifically was done by the brand Chobani Oat. This advertisement consisted of an out beverage sold by Chobani, the company that made Greek yogurt cool in the 2010s. (Bull) The advertisement that was put out was something similar to the advertisement “Got Milk” from around 25 years ago. “The company has created ‘Almost Milk’, a wide-reaching campaign to anchor its sweeping product expansion that also includes coffee creamers and oat-infused yogurts.” (Craft) Another influence on the audience is through the design of the milk itself. “Consider the average Amerian dairy case: Its heart is a sea of neutral plastic jugs, which are as visually exciting as a drawer full of worn-out socks. Things get louder and more colorful once your focus moves to the organic shelves — and then even more so once the dairy gives way to the sparkle of almond, oat, and soy milk.” (Bull) This visual aid factor can influence an audience on what seems to be more “healthy”.
The genre of the message and how it particularly forms an influence on the audience is through persuasion. Persuasive advertising is a method of advertising that attempts to convince a consumer to purchase a product or service by appealing to their needs and desires. (“What Is Persuasive Advertising?”) These well-known companies such as Chobani Oat, are prompting non-dairy milk through different persuasive techniques. An example of this is using celebrities in their advertisements to grab the attention of a specific audience. In the “Got Milk” advertisements, celebrities were used to raise awareness and attach milk to the consumption habits of pretty high-profile public figures. In the “Almost Milk” advertisement, the same persuasion was used by Chobani Oat.
Overall, I feel as though that people are likely to accept the message of the push to drink non-dairy milk. Not only has it been a recent trend to drink non-dairy milk such as almond milk, but it is also very trendy right now to be sustainable. We as people are very manipulated by the information we see. Like as mentioned before, if we are told that dairy is bad for you and gives you acne, the percentage of people who will stop consuming dairy will drastically increase. This would even happen without any research done regarding any topic. The message non-dairy milk is giving is that it is more sustainable and that is what the people want.
Works Cited
Bull, Marian. “The Milk Situation.” The New York Times, 16 March 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/style/milk-dairy-marketing.html. Accessed 27 February 2022.
Craft, Jakob. “Chobani Oat Drink oat milk Almost Milk in-house ad advertising campaign marketing Chobani Flip Oat Drink Barista Blend coffee creamer almond milk.” Ad Age, 3 February 2020, https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/chobani-unveils-almost-milk-campaign-new-oat-based-offerings/2233281. Accessed 2 March 2022.
Hale, Matt. “Exploring the Growth of Plant-Based Milk.” Food Manufacturing, 23 September 2021, https://www.foodmanufacturing.com/consumer-trends/article/21723117/exploring-the-growth-of-plantbased-milk. Accessed 27 February 2022.
Meyers, Alyssa. “Demand for Alternative Dairy Is Here to Stay, as Consumers Seek Balance Between Sustainability, Health and Taste.” Morning Consult, 30 March 2021, https://morningconsult.com/2021/03/30/alternative-milk-non-dairy-popularity/. Accessed 27 February 2022.
“What Is Persuasive Advertising?” Indeed, 1 April 2021, https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/persuasive-advertising. Accessed 2 March 2022.
