I've never understood the objective of milk commercials. Milk is a part of our culture, in everything to the point where it's downright unavoidable (as those of us that are lactose intolerant are aware). Doing commercials for milk is as pointless as doing commercials for oxygen.
Even by the standards of milk commercials, this one is harebrained. "I was a tiny Freshman, but I was huge as a senior a mere four years later?" Egad, what mysterious process has taken place here? SURELY MILK MUST BE RESPONSIBLE.
I guess it all goes back to the zeitgeist, the eighties, the second golden age of muscles. Muscles were like milk: in everything. As movies turned away from director-centered films and onto Spielberg-esque escapism, the musclemen actors (descendants of the rugged Lloyd Bridges mixed with equal parts Eastwood and Steve Reeves) took over macho movies. It's an interesting time to examine from this perspective, something I don't think has ever been done.
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2 comments:
That is kinda true, it is fairly scatterbrained. Still, I certainly wouldn't mind if milk was the only thing needed to get big. IT would certainly stink to be lactose intolerant.
They advertise milk for simple reasons:
- Milk has continuously become more expensive over the last 50 years, outpacing the general rate of inflation much of the time.
- The quality of milk as a product has dropped dramatically during that period of time, particularly with the introduction of higher levels of pasteurization. (As it works out in practice, the more thoroughly the suppliers kill the bacteria, the less obligated they feel to keep the bacteria out in the first place. Dead bacteria probably won't hurt you, but they aren't what you paid for, either.)
- Milk is not actually a dietary necessity. You can live an entirely lactose-free life if you want, and in fact much of the world does just that. Given the relatively high price of milk, it would be reasonable for people to start deciding not to drink any... unless the advertisements convince them otherwise.
Cars have sort of a similar "we have to advertise or else people won't buy them" thing going on. Half the car purchases in America are made by people who could get along without one, and probably need the money more than they need the car. But we're conditioned to think of cars as necessities, so we arrange our lives to make a car-free existence difficult.
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