“Got Milk?” ads got people sick !

The new “Got Milk?” ad campaign got really creative with its new ads. The new ads give off the scent of chocolate chip cookies around bus shelters which unfortunately caused a reaction among those with allergies, with diabetes — and even without food. And the AdAge article goes on to say, [K: emphasis mine]

Special-interest groups representing the homeless, the obese, diabetics and citizens who just don’t like scents have succeeded in scuttling an outdoor campaign from California Milk Processor Board involving some new scent technology. [K: Hmmm. Should it be a total surprise that this scent of chocolate chip cause problems to the homeless and the obese? Probably not. And, in hind sight, it makes sense that diabetics may have problems with it too.] The Metropolitan Transit Commission yesterday ordered the scent strips removed.

‘San Francisco story’
“This is such a San Francisco story,” said Jeff Goodby, co-chairman, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, the milk board’s ad agency. “It could have gone either way: We celebrate the hippy nostalgia of cookies in the oven, or we excoriate the possible effects on select health minorities. It’s 2006. We went the latter way,” he wrote in an e-mail, adding: “I guess The City has once again made herself safe for bus shelters that smell like urine and vomit instead.”

[K: I guess Mr. Jeff Goodby doesn't get it at all. Playing with chemical scents and subliminal manipulation is a dangerous game. And his attack of "I guess The City has once again made herself safe for bus shelters that smell like urine and vomit instead." should seriously get himself into a lot of trouble really soon, I hope. This kind of attack is totally uncalled for. And, worst, it makes his client, the Milk Board, looks like a self-righteous prick. Lesson learn: admit you made a mistake and never ever make your client look like a self-righteous prick.]

The AdAge article continues,

‘The project involved five downtown bus shelters that carried a stark black ad with the words “Got Milk?” on it. Hidden around the shelter were the carefully placed scent strips set for optimal downwind distribution. The subliminal scent was to entice those waiting for the bus to smell the cookies and think about having a cookie and a glass of milk. The campaign kicked off with distribution of cookies and milk around the bus shelters during the day.

Again, without all the chemical scent induced problems, the scent campaign may be a great idea. Once those problems are raised, it is damage control and “try to do things right” time. The way Mr. Jeff Goodby, co-chairman, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, went out of his way to attack his critics cannot and shall not be tolerated anymore. I think Mr. Jeff Goodby should apologize as soon as possible. If not for himself, at least for the damage he has already caused his client — the California Milk Processor Board.

In contrast, the now classic “Alaska Airlines – Seattle Seahawks” body painting kit is just pricelessly well executed and they did the required allergic reaction test! For more you can go to my previous post on Ms. Cherilyn Ann Gumiit’s handy work. Here is an excerpt from that post (which I excerpted from AdAge), [K: emphasis mine]

[Cherilyn Ann Gumiit at] WongDoody wanted to go further. A creative realized that on wet skin, the color in ordinary newsprint would become body paint. A concept was hatched: Alaska Airlines would take out a spread in the team’s blue and green colors and give airline-style directions for making the body painting kit.

But getting approvals wasn’t that easy. The faux-body paint had to be tested on humans to be certain it wouldn’t cause an allergic reaction. “It had never been done before,” says Ms. Gumiit. “And we had to be sure we got the Seahawks colors right.”

What Cherilyn at WongDoody did was both creative and with the proper medical safety in mind. Mr. Jeff Goodby and his team at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners have the creativity but lack the sense of proper care and safety for the public, which is a very sad combination. Just my 2 cents.