Dairy Farmers spoofs trendy online supplement brands

Got 15 essential vitamins? Dairy Farmers of Ontario is spoofing the trend of online vitamin subscription services with a new advertising campaign promoting a new “15-A-Day” multivitamin (Hint: It’s milk).

Kimberly Romany, director of marketing strategy and consumer communications with DFO, says the new campaign is built around the insight that while consumers may know a glass of milk is more effective and convenient than vitamins, they are drawn to the latter because of their sleek design and celebrity endorsements.

Subscription vitamin services such as Nourish by Nature Made and Ritual have grown significantly in recent years, buoyed in part by extensive Instagram advertising and influencer endorsements. The DFO campaign spoofs those ads with attention-getting visuals of sachets of milk, accompanied by messages like “Your 15 daily essentials, best served cold” and “15 essentials, simplified — it’s just milk.”

“As part of the ‘15-A-Day’ campaign, we looked to be informative and educational, while maintaining a fun and light-hearted tone that we knew would capture our target’s attention,” says Romany. “Engagement was at the core of the integrated campaign, with the creative, media mix, PR and influencer components all laddering up to the goal of reminding consumers that milk is the simple and delicious source of all these nutrients our body needs.”

The campaign is running across social, complemented by out-of-home and TikTok influencers known for debunking trendy health myths. There’s also a satirical BuzzFeed quiz that mirrors those found on health and wellness sites designed to uncover the right vitamin subscription package.

DFO has also partnered with well-known nutrition expert Michelle Jaelin to create an educational component targeting parents, informing them how milk contributes to drinkers’ overall health and wellbeing.

All of the ads drive to a dedicated website, 15-A-Day.ca, which jokingly informs visitors they can find milk at their local grocery store and describes the role it can play in helping drinkers with recovery, immunity, energy and strength. “15-A-Day has been brought to you by milk, which is very much real, unlike this product,” says the disclaimer at the bottom of the site.

Romany says that the campaign is hyper-targeted towards health-conscious consumers in the GTA, with a bullseye target of millennials moms. “We wanted to remind consumers of all the great health benefits found in milk,” she says.