• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, September 29, 2011

A seasonal "Got Milk?" campaign from the national Milk Processors Education Program (MilkPEP) is bringing Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy and Schroeder together in a print ad for the first time in 15 years.

The campaign continues recent years' efforts to make chocolate milk "the official drink of Halloween" -- meaning getting parents to make it the beverage of choice at kids' (and adult) celebrations around the holiday.

"The primary goal is building awareness among moms that chocolate milk is a treat that they can feel good about giving their kids," says Victor Zaborsky, marketing director for MilkPEP. "In line with the Halloween theme, the message is that white milk is 'dressing up' as chocolate milk for the holiday -- that just like white milk, it provides nine essential nutrients."

And who better to convey the message than the Peanuts gang, particularly on the 45th anniversary of the animated classic, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"? Peanuts Worldwide, which licenses the Peanuts characters, thought the combination made sense -- it brought the idea to MilkPEP, reports Zaborsky. The creative is from MilkPEP agency Deutsch.

Starting next week, through the end of October, the Halloween print ad will appear in a large roster of consumer magazines (including US Weekly, Every Day With Rachael Ray and Time), and will also appear as two full-page insertions in USA Today -- one on Halloween.

But fans of the Facebook page for MilkPep's iconic "Milk Mustache" campaign (facebook.com/MilkMustache) will get the first peek at the ad, which will be posted there on Oct. 3, says Zaborsky. (MilkMustache also has a Twitter presence.)

Peanuts-themed chocolate-milk-for-Halloween creative will also be seen in point-of-sale promotional materials in stores nationwide, in banner ads on mom-focused Web sites, and as one party-invite option among the Halloween invitation motifs offered on Evite.com.

The Halloween campaign meshes with MilkPEP's ongoing "Pour One More" Milk Mustache national print, TV and online campaign, which is also targeted primarily to moms (and secondarily to teens and Hispanics) and emphasizes the message that milk delivers calcium, potassium and other essential nutrients that are under-consumed by most Americans, notes Zaborsky.

The latest mustache/"Pour" efforts feature actress (and mom) Maggie Gyllenhaal praising the "delicious and nutritious" benefits of the milk in her morning latte -- marking the first time that milk has not been featured as a solo beverage in MilkPEP creative, according to Zaborsky.

As with other stars recently featured in the mustache campaign -- including Susan Sarandon and Angie Harmon (and children) -- Gyllenhaal is featured in video clips on the WhyMilk site. In this case, the star shares about how milk in her morning latte is a simple way for a busy mom/actress to get her nutrients.

MilkPEP created/owns the rights to the Milk Mustache campaign, but licenses the right to use the Got Milk? tagline from the California Milk Processor Board, an entirely separate organization that focuses exclusively on marketing milk in that state.

The California Milk Processor Board is the organization that recently stirred controversy with a campaign that sought to convey that milk can help reduce the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. The campaign's approach, meant to be humorous, suggested that men also suffer when their female partners experience PMS. After extensive backlash on social media, the board shifted (ahead of plan) to a less controversial creative approach for the messaging.