It's udderly silly: California's 'happy cow' ads will be filmed in New Zealand
The "happy cows" advertisements sponsored by the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) always have me wondering if the state's agriculture department isn't colluding with the tourism department (those ads where California's famous residents complain about how hard they're working, as they surf and be glamorous and, you know, play governor on TV). Cows are happier in California? I'm sure Vermont's cows would beg to differ!The New Zealand cows, soon, will have a say in the matter because the CMAB is bringing its production crews to Auckland, New Zealand, to shoot a new series of 10 commercials claiming that California cows are happier. That's right. New Zealand will stand in for California in a series of TV ads arguing that the Golden State's milk is superior.
At issue is, of course, cost. Film production is pricey in California, and that's why many movies, TV shows and commercials have fled to far-away locales from New Zealand and Australia to Canada and Portland, Ore. In response, the state recently began a film tax credit program, giving back approximately $100 million annually between 2009 and 2014. The credits, however, are reserved only for TV and movie production, not ads.
So the CMAB -- which is funded by dairy farmers throughout the state, but supervised by the California Department of Food and Agriculture -- is, as VP of advertising Michael Freeman told the LA Times, exercising its "fiduciary responsibility to spend [the dairy farmers'] hard-earned dollars as efficiently as we can" and taking the cameras to New Zealand. The board argues that the filming is a "minor portion of production" and that all the cows that are identified as Californian in the ads will be actual California cows. The board says all its post-production work, about 80% of the total job, will be done in California.
To throw a little stinky fuel on the fire, PETA is renewing its 2002 argument that these commercials are part of a campaign of false advertising. PETA claims that dairy cows in California are anything but happy and don't live in such lovely lush fields, but in fact are cooped up in manure-filled barns. The organization is filing a complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
And by all accounts, New Zealand cows are quite happy. The country is known for its lush climate with plenty of meadowland perfect for feeding dairy cows. PETA, I'm guessing, would approve.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-15-2009 @ 11:21PM
Soo Gee said...
I read in the statement that the CMAB sent out that those 10 ads are not spposed to have New Zealand standing in for California. They are supposed to be cows from other parts of the world wanting to be California Happy Cows. Has anyone seen the current ads? My favorite auditioning cow is Soo from Korea. If you missed it you can watch them on the www.realcaliforniamilk.com website.
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11-17-2009 @ 10:43PM
Sprinkle Cookie said...
I like Kirsten (I think) the one standing in the snowstorm, although Soo was my favorite before Kirsten. But you're right. That little "Thank you" at the end is so cute. Wonder who will win....
11-17-2009 @ 10:41AM
clem said...
Bull, ca cows are happy. they get god knows what pump in their veins not to mention their food. All this in the name of production. Milk the heck out of them then after a year slaughter them and send the toxic beef to your local market for public consumption. nice pretty commercials, but in reality after the rain they are in pens up to their utters in liquid crap.
11-15-2009 @ 11:40PM
ij70 said...
Buy the milk, not the story.
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11-15-2009 @ 11:45PM
Jennifer Giambroni said...
Your story is inaccurate in stating the New Zealand will "stand in for California" and that the state's Happy Cows campaign will be filmed in the country. In fact, one portion of a new campaign (called Auditions) that features unhappy cows from throughout the world auditioning to come to California to get "Happy" will be filmed on a sound stage there. California’s Happy Cows never have and never will be filmed anywhere but the Golden State and more than 90% of the California Milk Advisory Board's advertising production dollars still remain in California. What's missing from your coverage is the fact that dairy producers have suffered their worst year since the Great Depression. California has seen 10 percent of its dairies shut down. The highly successful California Happy Cows advertising campaign is a tool to help these dairy families promote their quality dairy products.
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11-17-2009 @ 10:52AM
clem said...
when i was a kid the dairy board even got the USDA to include dairy as a food group, the schools were used by the dairymen to push the crap down kids throats, and now they have put additives to increase production in their veins. these additives / toxins are then induced in our food thru milk products and the beef in the markets
11-16-2009 @ 3:49AM
B said...
With all the happy cows and huge corporate profits being generated, what most people have missed is the more important question of whether or not cow's milk should even be consumed by humans at all. There is more than enough evidence to link leukemia transferred to humans by milk and dairy products, something which is almost non-existent in countries where they don't drink milk. Further, what is milk? Protein and dead white blood cells, which is Pus. Milk is pus. Cheese is concentrated pus. Ice cream is pus and sugar. Cottage cheese is curdled pus. Get the picture? You might not like the sponsors, but I learned a lot from these two sites: NotMilk.com, and MilkSucks.com. Check them out and decide for yourselves. There's plenty of valid scientific info for you at the first one, and some very interesting reading on the second one.
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11-17-2009 @ 1:24PM
gary said...
Well, milk as "pus" is an image that I surely never imagined and I am not sure whether to thank you or curse you for the image you have implanted, now and per eternum, in my head. I love in Italy a part of the year. Not in any city but an hour outside the nearest city in the foothills of the Maritime Alps (Gli Alpi Maritime) and every morning, a little old lady, whom I recall from when I was a kid, comes by as she did then, and asks me how much milk I need, if any, and she measures it out for me...........from the cow! She milks how much I need, then moves on. In the afternoons, I see this cow, named 'Grigio' wandering around in the fields behind my home. I have drank it just out of the cow, and I admit to wanting to gag. I now boil it myself except for some which I keep for coffee and my 'cappucco's" in the AM. It is so rustic but so real for those us us living in the area. Understandbly that cannot be for everyone. Imagine cows walking up and down 8th Avenue in NY w/little old ladies guiding them, stopping and milking..etc! However, getting the most one can for the dollar without thinking about what is getting is rather unsettling, in this light. Why, up to recently, things were so much easier, uncomplicated...etc...yet the still world spun and we still advanced. One difference between the smaller towns in Europe, and elsewhere, is that people scedule their lives differently. Work is important, but an afterthought to their lives. People shop for food products daily (most have smaller fridges, not the giant things we have here) because everything is bought on the day it is comsumed. No shopping for the week. Just because advancements have been discovered does not mean they all need to be acted upon. As a sidenote, I know that we are technlogically ahead of most in the world, but that means nothing when we are sociologically so behind the rest of the western world. What a farce that they cannot even film publicity for CA cows in CA! It is no surprise that NZ cows are happier as, per all the UN polls, so are the people. That says something, I think. Peace !
11-16-2009 @ 10:06AM
cabo79 said...
They cut their own throats, milk at $4.50 a gallon. It's back to $2.50 a gal. but we don't use it anymore.
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11-16-2009 @ 11:23AM
Patrick said...
Thirty years ago when I broke into the film industry here in Hollywood, Producers knew what the word LOYALITY meant! Relationships were built around it and maintained with it. The new wave of fresh out of film school, in it for themselves, CraigsList Producers have no concept of the fact that they are part of a group and that their success depends on those around them. If they fail to support that group they will find themselves eventually reinventing the wheel and paying twice the price in production time without ever knowing why.
And I’m not only talking about loyalty to our last major industry in Southern California (The Film Industry). What about to our country? What ever happen to “Buy American”? Is it any wonder why we have massive unemployment currently (over 12% in California)?
When the word gets out to the public that these cows are not from California, the CMAB will discover an age old rule in advertising - DON’T LIE!
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11-17-2009 @ 8:04AM
George said...
It's all about money. By using local crews and supporting talent in a foreign country (exp: Romania), the same commercial/film can be shot at, sometimes, two-thirds the cost. The same hold true for shooting in "right to work" states (exp: Texas) and those states that offer large tax breaks. A close examination of the film credits will reveal such.
11-17-2009 @ 7:44AM
Phil said...
That is the only way to make California appealing!
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11-17-2009 @ 7:52AM
bfgair said...
Only from the land of FRUITS, NUTS & FLAKES could such a thing even be thought of. A state that is going or is broke is using New Zeland to represent them. What a bunch of cow manure.
Now maybe if they got all those cows in the state to stop farting it might clean up the air and it would help slow down the globel warming. Or maybe it is all those farts from S.F and the satisfied residents there. Fudge Packers
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11-17-2009 @ 11:00AM
Mr. Lee said...
bfgair...aren't you glad you don't live here? I know we are
11-17-2009 @ 7:56AM
Buster said...
that would be a very deceptive, deceitful advertisement, and would leave a very bad feeling about California milk and cows !!
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11-17-2009 @ 8:42AM
Willow said...
Happy shmappy, Everyone knows Wisconsin (kudos to Vermont too) has the best cheese and dairy products in the country.
Get a clue, what's there to be happy about when your supposed pasture land has to be irrigated to grow grass because it's stolen desert land? California has no business stealing all the water it does from the Colorado River for their agriculture. Take away the water like is going to happen with global warming and the lessening of snow run off filling the Colorado and what they are calling lush pasture land will be desert once more.
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11-17-2009 @ 8:24AM
Doug said...
Had a buddy that plagerized the logo of "Happy cows". He took a photo of a bull mounting a cow, the natural way, and added the "happy" part. Very funny. Oh, he is a dairy farmer, so maybe their Union won't get mad!
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11-17-2009 @ 8:24AM
mark said...
Arnold save the money on travel to New Zeland. Come to NJ we Have happy cows here. What there are no happy cows in California?
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11-17-2009 @ 9:12AM
Mike said...
Ahhhh. More truth in advertising.
Screw milk, drink beer.
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11-17-2009 @ 10:13AM
Dick said...
I recently auditioned for a Symbicort commercial and had to bring a passport to prove that I was available to fly to New Zealand in order to film it. I know the actor who ultimately got the job, and, yep, he flew to NZ, along with the producer and the director. THe crew and all support personnel were locals. It's cheaper than filming in U.S. where union contracts make it too expensive. Sad but true.
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