GOT PMS?

GOT PMS?

- Just Open the Fridge -

BERKELEY, Calif., April 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Why are the men of the world frantically stocking up on gallons upon gallons of milk? One of the best-kept -- and most useful -- secrets in a decade has surfaced via the latest GOT MILK? television commercial ... milk-calcium reduces the symptoms of PMS. Based on a study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,(*) the new GOT MILK? spot, entitled "Milk to the Rescue," takes a light-hearted approach to a serious issue.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050415/LAF040)

This is good news for millions of women for whom PMS is a regular influence on their physical and psychological well-being. By conservative estimates, every one in two menstruating women suffer from moderate to severe PMS each month. According to St. Luke-Roosevelt Hospital researchers at Columbia University, calcium cuts the physical and emotional symptoms of PMS in half. They found specifically that women on high-calcium diets were less irritable, weepy, and depressed. Plus, they averted backaches, cramping and bloating.

"Milk is the ultimate comfort food," stresses Jeff Goodby, "Milk to the Rescue" director and co-founder, Goodby, Silverstein and Partners. "And it's right there in your fridge."

Studies also reveal that more than 70 per cent of relationships are affected by PMS(**). So it's a male issue too ... something most men already know.

"Milk to the Rescue" opens on scenes of desperate men stocking up on gallons of milk. The frantic looks on their faces is puzzling until we zero in on a guy coming home with grocery bags full of milk -- and a bouquet of flowers -- and learn that milk makes that "time-of-the-month" less so. Cautiously our guy enters the house and yells "honey, I'm home." And the universal look on his face leads to that now famous tagline, "GOT MILK?"

"We're exploring this in a respectful and lighthearted way," says Jeff Manning, executive director, California Milk Processor Board (CMPB). "We hope that women and men both will find it funny and helpful."

Set to air throughout California beginning April 18th, "Milk to the Rescue" will also be offered to dairy boards nationwide. Developed by longtime CMPB advertising partners San Francisco-based Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, the commercial is the first of its kind to stress the benefits of milk-calcium for PMS.

Now in its twelfth year, GOT MILK? has helped sell millions of gallons of milk and become an American icon. The dairy industry spends $150-million annually to support GOT MILK?, including for use on those Milk Mustache ads. In addition, GOT MILK? has become a hot property licensed on 100s of products over the last decade.

About the CMPB

The California Milk Processor Board was established in 1993 to make milk more competitive and increase milk consumption in California. Awareness of GOT MILK? is over 90% nationally and it is considered one of the most important and successful campaigns in history. GOT MILK? is a federally registered trademark that has been licensed by the national dairy boards since 1995. GOT MILK? gifts and recipes can be viewed at http://www.gotmilk.com/. The CMPB is funded by all California milk processors and administered by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

* Am J Ostet Gynecol;179:444-52) ** National Association of Premenstrual Syndrome (www.pms.org.uk/mensexandpms.php)

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050415/LAF040 AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/ PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Source: California Milk Processor Board

CONTACT: April Yap, +1-310-226-8600, or +1-310-795-9521, April.yap@rlpublicrelations.com, for California Milk Processor Board

Web site: http://www.pms.org.uk/mensexandpms.php

Web site: http://www.gotmilk.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, an interview - or a copy of 'Milk to the Rescue' - please contact April Yap at 310-226-8600 or e-mail april.yap@rlpublicrelations.com

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