• FirstAmendmentCenter.org, Friday, December 14, 2007 11:45 AM

Milk processors want activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to halt a publicity campaign that plays off their legendary tagline. PETA, which advocates a dairy-free diet, is using "Got pus? Milk does" slogan on T-shirts, mugs and other merchandise. The idea is to draw attention to what the group claims are high levels of somatic cells (read: pus) in much of the milk sold here.

But the California Milk Processor Board, which owns the Got Milk? trademark, which has laughingly dismissed previous knockoffs, isn't fooling around this time. "Milk is one of the most regulated, tested and therefore safest products that consumers can buy," says Steve James, the milk board's executive director. "Pasteurization has been required for almost a century in order to remove harmful organisms and bacteria so it's safe for human biology."

The board's lawyers now demand that PETA immediately cease the Got Pus? campaign and threatens to sue if it doesn't For its part, PETA's lawyers say the trademark-infringement allegation is "entirely without merit."

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