Rock It, Man: MilkPEP Buys 30-Second Super Bowl Ad Featuring Dwayne Johnson

The Milk Processor Education Program, known as MilkPEP and funded by the nation’s dairy makers, is "buying a commercial during Super Bowl XLVII," according to Stuart Elliott of the N.Y. TIMES. The 30-second spot is "planned for the second quarter" of the Feb. 3 game on CBS. The commercial will be directed by Peter Berg and will feature actor Dwayne Johnson in a "fanciful look at how far a father will go to make sure his children have milk for their breakfast cereal." The campaign includes the slogan "got milk?" Until now, MilkPEP’s participation in the annual Super Bowl "marketing scrum has consisted of running newspaper ads before or after the game." The decision to buy ad time in the game comes "after a recent acceleration in the decline of consumption of milk, even as sales increase for dairy products like cheese and yogurt." The commercial will be "accompanied by promotions in stores, digital advertising, public relations efforts and a presence in social media" (NYTIMES.com, 1/11). ADWEEK.com's Tim Nudd noted the ad "sounds reminiscent of the recent MilkPEP spot with Salma Hayak in which the actress arrives home from a fancy night out to find she has no milk for the morning -- so, she sets out on a wild goose chase to find some." But the Super Bowl spot will be a "crazier affair." Photos taken last week on the set of the ad "show a lion, muscle men, stilt walkers and clowns" (ADWEEK.com, 1/11).

GREAT EXPECTATIONS: AD AGE's E.J. Schultz notes Mars will run a Super Bowl ad for the fourth straight year, but rather than "releasing its 30-second M&Ms spot early to create some buzz -- as has been the trend of late" -- the candy maker declined to discuss "even basic elements of the ad -- and has no plans to do so." The ad is from BBDO, N.Y., and will "run in the first quarter." Mars Chocolate North America Chief Consumer Officer Roy Benin said that the spot will be "part of a new campaign debuting next week that uses a new tagline 'Better With M.'" Schultz also reported that the brand will "not be debuting a new M&M character, as it did last year when it introduced Ms. Brown during the Super Bowl" (ADAGE.com, 1/11).

SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE: AD AGE's Cotton Delo writes while social networks have "become an established part of the Super Bowl marketing playbook," they are looking to "command more of fans' attention and maybe a bigger share of TV ad dollars." Lincoln hired NBC's Jimmy Fallon to "help produce its first Super Bowl ad based on tweeted script submissions." Pepsi is "taking to social media to ask fans for pictures of themselves to be part of a commercial to run just before the halftime show; Toyota is asking fans on Twitter to submit a photo to be included in its ad." For the "seventh year, Doritos is holding its 'Crash the Super Bowl' contest in which fans vote on spots created by amateur filmmakers." This year the "voting will occur on Facebook." Twitter Head of Brand Strategy Josh Grau "has high expectations for this Super Bowl based on the availability of ad products that weren't in the market a year ago, like promoted tweets in mobile app users' tweet streams and interest-level targeting" (AD AGE, 1/14 issue).