Happy Cows Come from Wisconsin...Not California

Alright. Without coming across as too proud of being from Wisconsin, I feel the urge to vent my frustration regarding the ongoing Real California Milk ad campaign. Yes, the TV commercials are cute, perhaps even slightly funny at times. But the main message- that only happy cows come from California- well that's just plain phooey! For full disclosure one of my former clients was the Wisconsin equivalent to the organization that puts out these "happy cow" ads. Even before I was involved directly with the dairy industry I would have had a strong opinion against these ads. Wisconsin IS America's Dairyland for a reason. Don't they think it's possible that some cows actually enjoy a white winter? I certainly do...

But in all honestly I do think the ads are creative and people seem to be drawn to them. Also, the California Board has done a very nice job of extending the campaign from just TV ads to an entire website full of TV clips, games for kids, and more. Quite the campaign extension, which they have been working with for a couple of years now. It's an interesting perspective to feel like you can actually see the competition gaining ground on you, though. It opens up some different channels that one must look at to gain competitive advantage. There is also the fact that now the competition has gained quite a bit of positive PR and how you should deal with that. I'm just waiting for the day when Wisconsin can properly showcase just how happy its cows are!