Joe Calzaghe backs milk campaign
British boxing legend Joe Calzaghe has become the latest big name to back the British Milk Marketing Forum’s ‘make mine Milk’ campaign following the launch of its partnership with award-winning charity, BeatBullying. 
The former world super middleweight and world light heavyweight champion, who retired from the ring undefeated in 2009, is a patron of BeatBullying and fronted activity for Anti-Bullying Week in November 2012.
New figures reveal that, during the Week, more than 250,000 co-branded wristbands bearing the ‘make mine Milk’ logo were distributed to teenagers across the country. Thousands of posters featuring Joe Calzaghe sporting a milk moustache were also put up in secondary schools to support BeatBullying’s aim of making bullying unacceptable.
Following these successes, Calzaghe – who also took the ‘make mine Milk’ Challenge (downing a pint in the quickest time possible) – has now spoken out in support of the ‘make mine Milk’ campaign and has urged the industry to find a way for it to continue.
He says: “For many years milk has been a huge part of my training diet and we are always well stocked in our fridge at home. That’s why I was delighted to see the ‘make mine Milk’ campaign launch back in 2010: anything that promotes a healthy product produced in the UK is great by me. It would be a massive shame if the campaign were just to stop now – I hope that the British milk industry can work together to ensure it carries on.” Funding arrangements for the integrated campaign, which was previously co-financed between the Milk Marketing Forum members (Arla Foods, Dairy Crest Limited, Müller Wiseman Dairies, First Milk and Milk Link) and the EC, came to an end in October 2012.
Limited remaining funds, such as those being used for the partnership with BeatBullying, will ensure ongoing PR and social media activity in 2013, but funding is now being sought to ensure that more visible ‘above the line’ advertising is also able to carry on.
Market data from Kantar shows that there have been year-on-year-on-year increases in milk volume consumed since the launch of the ‘make mine Milk’ campaign – with a +1.4% increase in the 52-week period ending October 2010, followed by +3.0% for the same period ending October 2011, and a subsequent +0.6% rise for the year ending October 2012.
Independently audited sales figures from the MMF companies support this trend, indicating a 111 million litre increase in volume sold between 2010 and 2011.
For further information, visit www.makemineMilk.co.uk
