• by Nina Lentini  @Nina_Lentini, February 4, 2009

Breaking this month on such sites as parenting.com and WebMD and in magazines including Parents, Parenting, American Baby, and Wondertime is a new campaign from Ovaltine, and it goes way beyond the old "More Ovaltine, please!"

Combining opera with spinach-sardine yogurt, the 30-second video sets an operatic score to 18 short scenes in which young eaters scowl at, push away, spit out, turn down, upend and otherwise disrespect their nutritious--but evidently unappealing--food. The video, as well as supporting print full pages and roll-over banners, are the work of advertising agency Marcus Thomas, Cleveland.

The four print ads focus on "spinach-sardine yogurt," "seaweed cereal with lima beans," "liver-asparagus fruit salad," and "Brussels sprouts-salmon sorbet."

While the support advertising is fact-based and specific (for instance, that Ovaltine has more iron and vitamins C and E than "spinach-sardine yogurt"), the video and opera depend for their effect on unbridled passion--both that of the finicky young eaters and of the powerful soprano, who starts out trilling lightly (to the tune of "The Habanera" from Carmen): "Baby corn and carrots are not for me," and ends, high decibel, as the kids enjoy their Ovaltine, "the taste simply must agree."

The only product claims, superimposed at the video's close, are: "They'll love the rich chocolate taste." and: "You'll love the 12 vitamins and minerals." Not surprisingly, the effort targets moms of young kids.

Ovaltine is a chocolatey fortified vitamin and mineral milk modifier. Ovaltine, Los Angeles is a division of Nestlé S.A., Vevey, Switzerland.