Olympic Athletes Endorsement For Anti Milk PSA

The Athletes

Each of the six Olympic athletes joined together to spread the word against a mantra taught from youth "that dairy does the body good", countering the long history of pro-milk ad campaigns.

Kendrick Farris: A three time Olympic weightlifter (2008, 2012, 2016) and the only U.S. male weightlifter to qualify for the Rio games.

Kendrick opens the spot by saying "I did it, and I got stronger."

Rebecca Soni: Six-time Olympic medalist in swimming (2008, 2012)

Which then has Rebecca Soni state "I did it, to take back my life."

Malachi Davis: Olympic sprinter from the 2004 games

Malachi Davis then comes in and says (as if he is surprised) "I did it to run faster. I did. I could breath better."

Kara Lang: Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame Olympic soccer player from the 2008 games. 

And then Kara Lang states "I did it for my athletic performance.  And it worked."

Dotsie Bausch: Olympic silver medalist women's pursuit cycling from the 2012 games.

Dotsie Bausch then says "I did it for my health."

Seba Johnson: Youngest Olympic alpine skier - and first black female skier, from the 1988 games.

And Seba Johnson brings the message home saying "I've never had cow's milk.  And I never am going to."

After introducing each of the athletes in the first :15 seconds, the commercial then has each continue speaking in a montage of why they don't support drinking milk, ending with their saying they are "proud to be dairy-free" and urging viewers to 'switch for good'.

The TV Ad 

The :30 TV ad has run since the closing ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games, also airing in the 90th Academy Awards - meaning, this public service announcement comes with some pretty hefty $$ investment backers as a :30 spot on ABC during The Oscars ran from $2 to $2.6 million, for The Olympics $538,499 and $650,241 per 30 second spot, and celebrity athletes don't typically come free. Nor do Oscar caliber directors.  Is it the almond industry? The soy industry?  Or who?  We don't know... but someone out there is hoping to turn the tides on milk for more reasons than just health we bet.

On a personal note, my husband and I just became a major fan of home made almond milk after doing a month long vegan raw diet cleanse.  It's amazing how your taste changes and you appreciate certain foods that you never thought you would (once you deprive yourself of them!)  So the fact that someone is out there promoting the plant based lifestyle is refreshing as there are alternatives that are extremely tasty, that many of us meat eaters would likely not normally even contemplate.  Throughout the cleanse we were both consistently told by others that we could not possibly be getting enough protein - which we did indeed get through nuts and plants.  There are a lot of food myths many believe in, and perhaps a changing tide with so many natural foods being produced now.