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Robert Williams #500011387
Advertising Nestlé’s Milo: Tonic Food to Energy Drink
Created by Thomas Mayne in Australia, Nestlé’s Milo, as a commercial product, was first introduced
to the public during the Sydney Royal Easter show in 1934 (Nestlé 2015). This essay will show case the
ways that Milo has been advertised during its 81 years. It will examine four advertisements, consisting
of one cinema commercial, two television commercial and one print advertisement. It will examine
the links between the four commercials and show how the advertising has changed over the decades.
The main competitor for Milo was at first Ovaltine, exported to Australia in 1909 (Twining 2013a), and
later Akta-Vite, an Australian made product introduced in 1943 (Akta-Vite n.d.). All three of these
products have roughly the identical claims. They are a chocolatey health-drink fortified with minerals
and vitamins (Nestlé 2015, Twining 2013b, Akta-Vite n.d.). With two other companies marketing a
very similar product Nestlé opted to advertise using the, ‘Reason Why’ method, where a product is
advertised by, ‘suggesting the ways [a] product would transform the buyer’s life.’ (Lears 1983, p.18).
In all four of the advertisements Milo’s statement is how it makes you feel and how this will improve
on your life. Lears calls this ‘Therapeutic Advertising’, which he describes as, ‘a method of social
control-a way to arouse consumer demand by associating products with imaginary states of wellbeing.’ (1983, p.19).
1948 - The Joy of Living – Cinema Commercial
Figure 1: The Joy of Living, (Nestlé 1948a).
This commercial was used in the cinema, (National Film and Sound Archive 2015) and was probably
screened before the main feature or during an intermission. The commercial is comedic in nature and
most likely ran with films of a similar nature, which in turn would result in an increased cognitive
impact (Furnham, Gunter and Walsh 1998, p.555). Opening with a graphic overlay and light hearted
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music the viewer is positioned to have an emotional response. It suggests that the images being shown
equates to being a person of quality. The narrator confirms this stating that, ‘…some folk always start
the day right, sparkling with health and energy.’ (The joy of living 2015). The next shot is of an unkempt
man getting the milk, and the narrator explains, ‘while others – well the less said about them the
better.’ (The joy of living 2015), he represents the other end of the wellbeing spectrum. A montage
explains why the man has not started the day right, then it contrasts this against the woman and what
she has done to wake up refreshed and ready for the day, nominating these as the ‘golden rules’ (The
joy of living 2015). There are two main signifiers, the woman living the good life in an impossibly tidy
house and the man living the poor life, shown living in a contrasting squalor. The signified is the
woman’s way of life as the one you want to be living and that the man’s way is probably what you are
doing. The denotation is that, those who are awake early and active are good people. The connotation
is that in order to accomplish this one must follow the rules which, naturally, include a nightly cup of
Milo. The target audience is grocery buyers, especially as the viewer is shown the product being
purchased. The intent of the campaign is to obtain new users and to get retailers to stock the product,
as it directs the viewer to the chemist (see Figure 2) – which again show cases the healthiness of Milo,
as Fletcher states, ‘…most advertising campaigns concentrate on end-benefits. Product ingredients
and formulations will only be mentioned to back up and justify the end-benefits the product provides.’
(2010 p.11-12). The advertising campaign was likely run alongside an aggressive shop display
campaign similar to what is shown in the commercial, possibly even in the cinema foyer. Interestingly
this commercial is the only one of the four that does not demonstrate or give explicit instructions on
how to make a Milo.
Figure 2: The Joy of Living - Chemist, (Nestlé 1948b).
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1957 – Snap out of SUMMER SAG – Print Advertisement
Figure 3: Snap Out of SUMMER SAG (Nestlé 1957).
This print advertisement would have been placed in magazines targeted to women. In the title of the
advertisement, ‘SUMMER SAG’ is emphasised in bold which expresses a bloated and sluggish feel,
while, ‘Snap out of’ is in thin light letters, to showcase how a person feels after drinking Milo. The
signifiers for are the woman whom appears to be bounding with energy, contrasted against herself
slumped over the ironing board. The signified is that doing activities such as ironing or general
housework can make you tired and drinking an ‘ICED Milo’ can revive you in order to carry on after
the housework is done. This advertisement differs from The Joy of Living, as it demonstrates a different
way to make a Milo; cold as opposed to hot. Therefore this advertisement was probably run in the
summer months when people were steering away from hot chocolate drinks. Another reason for this
change may be explained by Lyth as, ‘…a primary function of an advertisement is to create difference
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between products within an industrial or consumer category, particularly where those products
appear very similar.’ (2009, p.2). Nestlé may have identified a gap in the market in that its competitors
were seen more as hot drinks only and they sought to exploit this fact. The advertisement is another
example of therapeutic advertising as it offers a promise to increase a user’s physical wellbeing, and
it contains the threat that if you do not purchase the product your days of feeling overwhelmed will
continue (Lears 1983, p.5). The advertisement is still story based, which is similar to The Joy of Living,
as it contains quite a bit of text and it also includes a recipe on how to make a Milo. With the addition
of text Snap out of SUMMER SNAG carries the appearance of an article instead of a paid
advertisement, which again aids to cognitive impact (Furnham, Gunter and Walsh 1998, p.555),
especially if it were mixed alongside other recipe style articles. The denotation is completing
housework can leave you tired an unable to enjoy the day, and that happy people are full of energy.
The connotation is that this can be accomplished with little more than a glass of cold Milo. The target
audience are grocery buyers, particularly house wives. The intent of the campaign, is to entice new
users to try Milo, to persuade existing users to use Milo in a new way and to convert light users, into
heavy users, particularly with the line, ‘Get the regular Iced Milo habit…’ (Nestlé 1957). It accomplishes
this through employing values of modern hedonism. It transforms the somewhat mundane activity of
enjoying a cold chocolate drink, into one filled with such pleasure and delight the user is catapulted
to life (Campbell cited in Storey 1999, p.14). It supplies the user with the image of what to expect
(Storey 1999, p.14). A long as Milo doesn’t dramatically disappoint a user will continue to associate
the image with the idea.
1982 - Energy to Burn – Television Commercial
The television commercial Energy to Burn, is a complete depart form The Joy of Living and Snap out of
SUMMER SAG. No longer is the advertisement concerned with how you may feel, but rather it thrives
on the necessity to have an increase in energy to keep doing the activities you enjoy. Opening with
the narrator emphasising every word, ‘Energy is all it takes and that’s the difference Milo makes; give
‘em Milo!’ (Milo Commercial [1982] 2009). Energy to Burn, is loud and fast paced, the music is punchy
and the away shots are snapped together tightly; sport action followed by shots of Milo displayed in
sequence, demonstrating how to make a Milo. Every shot of Milo being made, or enjoyed, coincides
with the repetitious jingle as, ‘[adjective] Milo!’ or ‘Give ‘em Milo!’ (Milo Commercial [1982] 2009).
The target audience is families and grocery buyers. The signifier is sport action shots and the signified
is that this is what Milo creates, a child who never runs out of energy. The commercial was probably
screened during children’s programming, and sports programs, in order to drive the signified message
– as a child sitting down and watching television has obviously run out of energy. This in turn leads the
parent to potentially question their parenting methods as the denotation is that children enjoy sports
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and drinking Milo. The repeated slogan, ‘Give ‘em Milo’, (Milo Commercial [1982] 2009), being used
more like a command rather than a suggestion, is ‘…used to prime brand association’ (Kohli, C,
Thomas, S, and Suri, R 2013, p.33). It repeats several times so the consumer remembers and provides
a connection that when children appear to be out of energy they need a cup of Milo to get them
outside and playing again, which is the connotation for the commercial. The intent of the campaign is
make people aware of the intention of Milo, it is an energy drink, its purpose is to get people, and
children in particular active and to enjoy life. The text overlay ‘IT’S MARVELLOUS WHAT A DIFFERENCE
MIL MAKES’ (Milo Commercial [1982] 2009) at the end of Energy to Burn, is a throwback to an older
slogan and creates an association between the two advertising campaigns (Milo (Australian ad) 1960’s
2012).
Figure 4: Energy to Burn (Nestlé 1982).
2013 – The Official Drink of Play – Television & Internet Commercial
The Official Drink of Play is short enough that it fits in as a television commercial, but the use of the
rhetorical question, ‘But, are your kids getting enough Calcium?’ (MILO, The Official Drink of Play 2013)
at the eight second mark, used as a hook so the viewer doesn’t skip past, and the inclusion of a website
address, demonstrate that it may also have been used in internet campaigns. The most striking miseen-scene is in the opening sequence where the family are dressed in Milo colours, mostly green and
silver, as if they are the ultimate Milo family, happy and full of energy. The commercial is returning to
the therapeutic formula that was apparent in The Joy of Life. It suggests that the viewer may not be
getting their total calcium requirement, or other words lacking in health, and in order to feel better
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and be able to live a full and complete life Milo is needed. The commercial makes use of celebrity
endorsement under the playful path, described by Zuckerman (cited in Hung 2014, p.158) as, ‘the
desire to relax’. An endorsement used in this manner appeals to all consumers even if they are not a
fan of the celebrity involved (Hung 2014, p.164). The signifiers are the family and Shelly Craft. The
signified is that the viewer should want to have a family like the one displayed, they are all happy and
playing together, Shelly Craft acts as a mediator, she is the image of the person who would be friends
with the family. The denotation is happy families enjoy Milo, and the connotation is that in order to
be healthy enough to be a happy family one needs to drink Milo. The target audience for this
commercial is families, and was probably screened in the lead up to Summer. The intent for this
campaign was to make people aware of the health benefits of Milo. This is most likely indicative of the
changing attitudes toward food as:
Advertisements do not run counter to majority attitudes and it is not their role or
purpose to change society, but nonetheless while it is busy selling products and
services the advertisement is also a window on to the landscape of our social
culture. (Lyth 2009, p.2)
The difference between the use of health benefits, between The Joy of Life, Snap out of SUMMER SAG
and The Official Drink of Play, is that its claims are backed up with facts from an independent statutory
agency, namely NUTTAB 2010 provided by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (2015).
Figure 5: The Official Drink of Play (Nestlé 2013).
Nestlé’s Milo has positioned itself as a health food from its concept to present day. All of the
advertisements analysed used the therapeutic technique, it is a strategy that works well because, as
Lears suggests, ‘People have always been preoccupied by their own emotional and physical wellbeing…’ (1983, p.4) and presumably they always will be. The advertisements while looking different
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are all essentially the same, the only thing that has really changed is the style, or, ‘As older values
become less fashionable, they are widely discarded but persist in residual forms’ (Lears 1983, p.19).
Then again why alter a winning formula. If Nestlé had not been successful at marketing Milo, it is
unlikely that the shiny green tins would still be populating the supermarket shelves.
References
Akta-Vite n.d., Australian Made Goodness, retrieved 18 August 2015,
<http://aktavite.com.au/australian-made/>.
Fletcher, W 2010, Advertising: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand 2015, About FSANZ, retrieved 20 August 2015,
<http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/about/Pages/default.aspx>.
Furnham, A, Gunter, B, & Walsh, D 1998, 'Effects of programme context on memory of humorous
television commercials', Applied Cognitive Psychology, 12, 6, pp. 555-567, Academic Search
Complete, viewed 21 August 2015.
Hung, K 2014, 'Why Celebrity Sells: A Dual Entertainment Path Model of Brand
Endorsement', Journal Of Advertising, 43, 2, pp. 155-166, Business Source Complete, viewed 21
August 2015.
Kohli, C, Thomas, S, & Suri, R 2013, 'Are You In Good Hands?: Slogan Recall: What Really
Matters', Journal Of Advertising Research, 53, 1, pp. 31-42, Business Source Complete, viewed 20
August 2015.
Lears, T J J 1983, ‘From salvation to self-realization: advertising and the therapeutic roots of the
consumer’ in RW Fox & TJJ Lears (eds) The culture of consumption: critical essays in American
history, 1880-1980, Pantheon Books, New York, pp.1-38.
Lyth, P 2009, ''Think of her as your mother': Airline advertising and the stewardess in America, 19301980', Journal of Transport History, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 1-21.
MILO, The Official Drink of Play 2013, YouTube, Milo Australia and New Zealand, 25 April, retrieved
21 August 2015, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVOAruxenFE>.
Milo Commercial [1982] 2009, YouTube, Nestlé uploaded by Classic Australian Television
Commercials, 14 July, retrieved 18 August 2015,
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8WDUUj50TU>.
Milo (Australian ad) 1960s 2012, YouTube, Nestlé uploaded by retrooldcommercials, 26 April,
retrieved 18 August 2015, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LAlUaXP5kI>.
National Film and Sound Archive 2015, Nestle’s MILO Cinema Advertisement: The Joy of Living, NFSA,
retrieved 18 August 2015, <http://aso.gov.au/titles/ads/nestles-milo-joy/clip1/>.
Nestlé 1948a, The Joy of Living, screenshot, <http://aso.gov.au/titles/ads/nestles-milo-joy/clip1/>.
Nestlé 1948b, The Joy of Living - Chemist, screenshot, <http://aso.gov.au/titles/ads/nestles-Milojoy/clip1/>.
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Nestlé 1957, Snap Out of SUMMER SAG, scanned image,
<https://www.pinterest.com/pin/111675265733608774/>.
Nestlé 1982, Energy to Burn, screenshot, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8WDUUj50TU>.
Nestlé 2013, The Official Drink of Play, screenshot,
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVOAruxenFE>.
Nestlé 2015, About Milo, Nestlé, retrieved 18 August 2015, <http://www.Milo.com.au/about/>.
Storey, J 1999, ‘Consumption in history’ in Cultural consumption and everyday life, Arnold, London,
pp. 1-17.
The joy of living 2015, streaming video, australian screen, Nestlé archived by National Film & Sound
Archive, n.d., retrieved 18 August 2015, <http://aso.gov.au/titles/ads/nestles-Milo-joy/clip1/>.
Twining 2013a, Timeline, Twining and Company Limited, retrieved 18 August 2015,
<http://www.ovaltine.co.uk/about/timeline/>.
Twining 2013b, Ovaltine, Twining and Company Limited, retrieved 18 August 2015,
<http://www.ovaltine.co.uk>.
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