THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 17, 1995 TAG: 9507150002
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
It's nearly impossible to read a magazine these days without coming across a full-page ad showing a beautiful woman with milk on her upper lip.
In Newsweek, for example, Miss America is shown wearing her crown and a milk mustache.
Presumably the ad folks tired of showing milk in a glass. They couldn't show milk in a human stomach or a cow's udder. One of them must have smacked his or her forehead and explained, ``Wait! Why not show milk on people's upper lips.''
The Newsweek milk ad plays on the supposed stupidity of beauty queens. It has Miss America saying, ``If I could solve one problem facing our children today, I would end world hunger, promote world peace, and then, if there was still time before dinner, I'd convince more people to drink more milk. Besides tasting great, three glasses of milk a day provide all the calcium you need, which in turn will make the world a better place.''
That's a little bit funny. Funnier is the children's riddle about the pig named Ink. Why did the farmer name his pig Ink? Because it kept running out of the pen. Still, the world needs its 1,349th joke about stupid beauty queens.
While we have nothing against milk, our concern is that the obnoxious milk ads will prove so effective that ad agencies for other beverages will copy them.
Are we ready for ads showing beauty queens who've been drinking cranberry juice or grape juice or prune juice?
Whether this matter deserves further study remains to be seen. by CNB