• by Aaron Baar , February 26, 2010

The dairy industry interrupts its regularly scheduled "milk moustache" campaign to bring you an ad in support of First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!" program to combat childhood obesity.

"We share the concern that childhood obesity is a problem in the U.S., and the world," Julia Kadison, vice president of marketing for the Milk Processors Education Program (Milk PEP), tells Marketing Daily. "We want to emphasize milk as part of the solution."

A print advertisement touting the program will run in USA Today, The New York Times and the Washington Post on March 1. Against a background image of kids playing, the ad touts the program, which -- among other things -- encourages kids to substitute soda and sugary drinks with water or skim milk.

"The program recommends small changes that add up," reads the ad. "We were glad to hear that one of those changes includes drinking fat-free milk. Milk has nine essential nutrients to help kids be healthy. Eating right, drinking milk and being active for at least 60 minutes a day can help kids maintain a healthy weight. That's why we encourage kids to 'fuel up to play 60.'"

The first lady's program dovetails with Milk PEP's 2010 marketing focus, which is to help moms give their kids enough nutrition via milk, Kadison says. "We just wanted to thank [Michelle Obama] and salute her as well as moms across the country," she says.

Milk PEP is the marketer behind the famous "milk moustache" ads that feature celebrities sporting the telltale sign of having drunk a glass of milk. Although this is the third ad in recent months to diverge from that 15-year-old campaign, the organization is not taking a step away from it.

"That's a great ad campaign. It's something we've been doing for 15 years, and it will continue to be the primary platform for our print advertising," she says. "[But] sometimes there are messages we want to get out that don't have to do with celebrity advertisements."