Popular 'Got Milk?' ad to return / Recycling of 'Aaron Burr' is unusual among TV commercials

Beginning today, a 9-year-old television commercial -- as surreal and funny as it was in October 1993 -- will appear on network programming in California's major media markets. It was the first commercial in the "Got Milk?" series, and it's back by popular demand.

The ad is "Aaron Burr," a multiple award-winning spot that reminded consumers of the horror of milk deprivation. In it, an American history buff and specialist in Alexander Hamilton gets a random telephone call from a radio DJ with a question in a $10,000 trivia contest: "Who shot Alexander Hamilton in that famous duel?"

Unfortunately, the historian -- we see that his collection of memorabilia includes a portrait of Burr and a bullet from the duel -- has stuffed his mouth with a peanut butter sandwich and he's fresh out of milk. He can only mutter the answer, "Aaaawon Buuuuhh." The ad ends with the now familiar tag line, "Got Milk?"

The ad campaign, by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco, is for the California Milk Processor Board, a group of 30 businesses that take milk from dairies and move it to market.

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Based in Berkeley, the board spends some $21 million annually on marketing California milk, mostly for advertising, which, the board says, helped reverse a 20-year decline in milk consumption.

Recycling advertising is rare indeed, certainly for television. "The reason is probably that few marketers stay true to a strategy, tag line and agency for more than a few months or years," said Jeff Manning, the milk board's executive director. "So maybe we're breaking new ground for a very good reason. "

Manning said people in monthly focus groups, which help shape marketing efforts, are often asked which ads in the series they remember. He said they routinely answer "Aaron Burr" and say they would like to see it again.

Moreover, said Jeff Goodby, co-founder of the agency that created the spot, some focus group participants, three or four years after the ad was pulled, said they thought it was still on the air. "That's the sign of a good commercial," he said.

It's said that the best advertising comes from the truth, so "Aaron Burr" no doubt succeeds because it tells a simple truth -- you're out of milk, you're out of luck.

It was directed by Michael Bay, who directed "Pearl Harbor" and "The Rock," and who gave the ad a slightly surreal feeling by filming it in an abandoned foundry in Los Angeles. The actor is Sean Whalen, who appeared in "Never Been Kissed," "Men in Black" and "Twister."

"Aaron Burr" was the first of 50 "Got Milk?" television spots (there have also been 34 billboard ads since the campaign began in 1993). It has received some of the ad industry's highest awards: three gold Clio awards from the international competition, a silver from the Cannes International Advertising Festival and a gold from the New York American Marketing Association.

It was named one of the 10 best ads of all time by participants in a USAToday.com poll this year. It also has been named one of the best by TV Guide and Advertising Age.

The milk board is spending $2 million for the ad's 13-week run.