I forgot how clever the “got milk?” advertising campaign was until I saw Art & Copy at the Orange County Museum of Art.  “Got milk?” began in 1993 when the designers at Goodby Silverstein & Partners were presented with the challenge of selling more milk.  To paraphrase their initial concerns: milk is as old as time itself, unlike Snapple or Gatorade there are no new flavors, the labels have not changed in over twenty years, and there are no favorite brands of milk (2% is not a brand).  Their solution was to remind people how much it sucks to pour a bowl of cereal, chop up the fruit to mix in, and have an incomplete, unsatisfying breakfast because there is not enough milk left in the carton.  Scenarios similar to this involving cookies, peanut butter, and disgruntled cats made “got milk?” a success and launched countless imitations and parodies.

This is just one of several segments in Art & Copy documenting the personalities behind popular advertising.  Other featured brands include: Volkswagen, Nike, Budweiser, Macintosh Computers and the ipod.  Art & Copy premiered in OC this year at the Newport Beach Film Festival and is part of OCMA’s film series highlighting art architecture and design.  Future films include: Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight, August 27, celebrating the graphic designer behind I “heart” NY; Visual Acoustics, September 24, about the architectural photographer Julius Shulman; and Infinite Space, October 29, featuring the architecture of John Lautner.

Art & Copy will be released in select theatres this fall.