Got Milk? deception. Many believe that advertisements lie about the facts of the products they present.

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1 GGGGGG 1 GGGGGG Professor Peterson English 100 January 1, 2008 Got Milk? When most people think about advertisements, the first idea that enters their mind is deception. Many believe that advertisements lie about the facts of the products they present. However, the facts that the advertisements use are usually true and monitored heavily by the Federal Trade Commission, according to advertising guru Jay Chiat (Chiat 460). While the information in advertisements may be truthful, the way in which advertisers present them is often misleading and suggestive (Chiat 461). This method, which is commonly used by advertisers, employs the use of conceptual metaphors to imply certain characteristics about a product without blatantly stating them. Even ad campaigns which are thought to promote public health and safety utilize this advertising tactic. The Got Milk ad campaign advertises about the benefits of milk in one page magazine articles with actors and sports stars. Despite milk s universally accepted nutritional benefits, the Got Milk ad campaign implies several fictitious properties of milk while hiding others through the way it presents its advertisements and its use of conceptual metaphors. In order to understand the implications the Got Milk ad campaign makes about milk, it is important to understand what conceptual metaphors are and the effects they have on the concepts people use. In George Lakoff s Metaphors We Live By, Lakoff describes the human conceptual system as a metaphorically based structure. The conceptual system is the basis for all of the thoughts, actions and perceptions people use everyday. Thus, because our conceptual system is metaphorically based, our thoughts, actions and perceptions also share a metaphorical aspect

2 GGGGGG 2 (Lakoff and Johnson 3). Metaphors play such an important role in our everyday thoughts and actions because they are often the way in which people understand abstract, everyday concepts. For example, the metaphors such as time is money help people to comprehend the abstract and obscure concept of time. People often perceive time in terms of money. When someone doesn t use their time efficiently, they often recognize it by associating the idea of wasting, losing or spending their time. When people talk about the use of their time, terms such as investing or budgeting their time are commonplace. Although people may be talking about time, they still express it in terms of money because the metaphor of time is money helps people to communicate the abstract and unclear concept of time (Lakoff and Johnson 7-8). While this use of metaphor helps people to better understand abstract concepts, it tends to highlight certain aspects of the concept while downplaying others. The metaphor that time is money highlights the fact that time is a valuable commodity similar to money. However, it hides the fact that unlike money, someone can spend a certain amount of time, yet they can never get that same amount of time back. While the same amount of time can be received, the actual time someone spends doing something can never be taken back (Lakoff and Johnson 13). These conceptual metaphors simplify abstract concepts into terms which people can understand; however, they tend to highlight particular characteristics of the concept while hiding others. Although advertisements technically do not lie about their product, they utilize metaphors to imply characteristics which are not necessarily true. While the facts presented to the viewers are usually true, [t]he real lie in advertising lies in the presentation of situations, values, beliefs and cultural norms that form a backdrop for the selling message (Chiat 460). This means that advertisers present their products in a way that highlights the values and beliefs that will attract consumers. When advertisers create an ad, their primary goal is to make their product desirable. While there are laws to prevent them from blatantly lying about their product,

3 GGGGGG 3 they can still introduce their product to the viewer in a setting that is appealing, yet not necessarily related to the product. This may take the form of attractive men and women, popular celebrities or even situations that would be desirable to the viewer. While these desirable people or situations may have no correlation to the product, advertisers try to create relationships between them through the use of metaphors. These metaphors may not be necessarily true, yet because they are not stated like the rest of the advertisement, they are perfectly legal despite any misguidance they give. Creating an alcohol commercial with attractive girls produces the metaphor that alcohol is popularity, and as the amount of alcohol increases, popularity, and therefore access to attractive women, increases. While these two items share no relationship, the metaphor that the advertiser implies suggests this to the viewer. No matter what the viewers think, advertisements do not represent the real world, but a world which advertisers create in order to make their products more attractive (Chiat 461). Since its origin in 1993, the Got Milk ad campaign has advertised about the benefits of milk in various magazine and television advertisements. The Got Milk milk mustache advertisements are one-page ads showing different celebrities drinking milk in a setting related to their profession. The celebrities always appear with a milk mustache and a glass of milk in their hand. In addition, a paragraph is usually written at the bottom of the page including information about the celebrity s career and the benefits of milk. The paragraph usually suggests a correlation between the celebrity s career and success and the drinking of milk. The Got Milk campaign has been promoting milk s nutritional benefits in the United States for over a decade (Holt). Through the Got Milk campaign s use of attractive and popular celebrities in its milk mustache advertisements, fictitious metaphors between attractiveness and milk are presented to the viewers. Two of the most recent milk mustache ads include the British football star David

4 GGGGGG 4 Beckham and young, popular actress Hayden Panettiere from the television show Heroes. Both advertisements include attractive and popular celebrities dressed in an alluring manner. In Panettiere s ad, she is wearing a tight, low-cut red dress that accentuates her cleavage, while Beckham poses with his shirt off. In addition, both ads have slogans near the top of the page stating body by milk (Fleeman). This slogan implies that Beckham and Panettiere, both with bodies considered attractive by the opposite sex, can attribute their attractive bodies to their use of milk. The slogan creates the metaphor you are what you eat in the advertisement ( David Beckham ). Both advertisements show the celebrities drinking milk and stating that they regularly drink milk. Thus, if you are what you eat and both Panettiere and Beckham drink milk, then milk can be attributed to the status of their bodies. Because both of their bodies are considered attractive, the relationship that milk makes them attractive is implied to the viewers. However, neither milk advertisements clearly state the metaphor during the advertisement and simply suggest it to the users through an appealing example. In addition to creating relationships between attractiveness and milk usage, the Got Milk milk mustache campaign creates a metaphor, which implies increased sports performance due to milk. During Beckham s milk advertisement, different slogans and images imply different sports related characteristics attributed to milk. Throughout the ad, slogans such as Goal by Beckham. Body by milk. And grab a glass and get in the game are used. In addition, Beckham is shown with both a milk mustache on his upper lip and a soccer ball under his arm. All of these examples draw relationships between Beckham s excellent sports performance and his usage of milk. The metaphor that humans are machines is implied in the article. While humans are machines, milk is their fuel. Because machines are not able to function without fuel, it is implied that a person must drink milk in order to play sports properly. In addition, the relationship that as fuel increases, performance increases is produced, but with milk as the fuel and performance

5 GGGGGG 5 as sports performance. Although it never states during the article that milk increases sports performance, the implication that Beckham can attribute his performance to his fuel, which is milk, is made with the metaphor that humans are machines ( David Beckham ). Throughout the Got Milk advertising campaign, different metaphors are created to highlight some of the positive attributes seen in milk. The advertisers create the metaphors of you are what you eat and humans are machines throughout their ads. These metaphors highlight the positive nutritional benefits milk provides for the human body. Milk is widely considered to be a healthy source of protein, vitamin D and calcium. The you are what you ear metaphor highlights that a person s nutrition is provided through their diet, and that milk provides some of the essential nutrients necessary in healthy diets. The humans are machines metaphor highlights the positive effect that milk can potentially have on sports. Milk provides protein, which is the essential element necessary when building muscle, which helps in various sports activities. These metaphors stress the nutritional benefits milk provides to its users. However, while the metaphors utilized in the Got Milk advertising campaign highlight the nutritional benefits of milk, they downplay the negative aspects of milk. The you are what you eat metaphor implies that milk is beneficial to the body both on the inside and the outside. While it is true that milk provides nutrients essential to a healthy diet, these nutrients do not necessarily affect outwards appearance. The calcium milk provides is definitely valuable, yet the positive effects it provides are seen in healthier bone development, which promotes internal health. While protein does affect outwards appearance, it simply provides the materials necessary for muscle building, while weightlifting and exercise are the actual causes for any muscle increase. In addition, the humans are machines metaphor, in which milk is the fuel, implies that milk is absolutely necessary. Milk does provide essential nutrients with its high source of protein and calcium, yet there are multiple other sources that provide the same

6 GGGGGG 6 nutrients. Legumes are known to have a high protein content, while calcium can be supplemented for with pills or inside other drinks like orange juice. These metaphors hide the fact that there are multiple other factors which attribute to the benefits milk is supposed to provide its users. While the metaphors the advertisers imply are largely responsible for the misconceptions created in the Got Milk campaign, the ways in which the ads are presented also share part of the blame. The message that the Got Milk campaign is trying to make is simple: drink milk because it is beneficial for the body. What makes the message so effective is the way it is presented and the packaging it encounters. In both advertisements, the advertisers didn t simply choose anyone to endorse their message. Both ads are presented by celebrities who are both popular and attractive. While the ad could have shown anyone with a glass of milk and conveyed the same message, the use of these cultural icons make the message to drink milk so much more effective. The advertisers use this tactic to their advantage, attracting large amounts of people to their product simply because of who is standing next to the glass of milk. As Chiat alludes to in his essay, the real art in advertisement is in the presentation (Chiat 460). The Got Milk campaign uses this to their advantage and provides the most attractive and alluring presentation possible to convince its viewers. While milk does have positive nutritional aspects, they are accentuated through the use of metaphors and presentation, while its negative characteristics are downplayed. No matter what the product is, advertisers can heighten its appeal by creating metaphors which generate correlations between what people find attractive and the product. In addition, presenting the product in an environment which is appealing to the consumer, can have an equally powerful effect. Employing these different tactics in an advertisement can help to mislead the consumer in a manner that promotes the advertisers product.

7 GGGGGG 7 Works Cited Chiat, Jay. "Illusions Are Forever." The Bedford Guide for College Writers. Ed. X. J. Kennedy, Dorothy M. Kennedy, Marcia F. Muth and Sylvia A. Holladay. New York : Bedford/St. Martin's, "David Beckham signs U.S. biggest ever ad deal to promote milk..?." Adpunch. 26 Aug Nov 2007 < Fleeman, Mike. "Hayden Panettiere Scores a 'Got Milk?' Ad." People. 22 Aug Nov 2007 < Holt, Douglas B. "got milk?." Advertising Educational Foundation Advertising Educational Foundation. 7 Nov 2007 < Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1980.