Adweek recognizes Oregon Cheese work

Fuckin' sweet (although they used the one headline I didn't write. Ah well). From Adweek.

"Why are there so many good ads for milk and cheese? Maybe the thought of contented cows puts otherwise discontented agency creatives in a positive frame of mind. Cows could easily trample us; instead, they nourish us. How can we not feel good about their milk and the foods it yields? Actually, advertisers used to botch things up by harping on the fact that dairy products are nutritious. Nowadays, they present milk and cheese more in the way ice cream has always been positioned: as a palate-pleasing treat. The cheese of a particular state is an especially suitable candidate for such treatment, since consumers are now programmed to regard "regional cuisine" as superior to geographically undifferentiated food. Brief copy here explains that "Oregon cows produce some of the finest milk in the country." Another ad in the series shows what appears to be the crowd at a Green Bay Packers game, complete with fans wearing "cheesehead" hats. The headline: "We've tasted cheese from other states. And we'd have to agree, it makes a great hat." Cheese plain and simple may be a commodity, but Oregon cheese is a specialty. With its comparison of cheesemaking to winemaking—modified by the caveat that "we don't stomp on our cows"—the ad amplifies this note of connoisseurship, but without letting a tone of pretentiousness creep in. (And don't try to tell me you indulged in cow-stomping when you were a mischievous teenager.) "



Agency
JohnsonSheen Advertising, Portland, Ore.

Client
Oregon Dairy Farmers

Creative director
Mike Sheen

Art director
Brent Anderson

Copywriters
Eric Samsel
Miguel Caballero

Producer
Jo Marie

Photography
David Emmitte (insets)
Polara Studios (cheese shots)