next naming a business story >

previous naming a company story >

Brand Building: False advertising given green light
as brand strategy for government agencies.

The cows in question from the Milk Board's ad

SACRAMENTO, June 22, 2003. A lawsuit naming the California Milk Advisory Board as perpetrators of false advertising has been brought by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. But the suit, claiming that cows aren't as happy as an ad campaign suggests, has been thrown out by a California Superior Court judge.

PETA contended that, contrary to the product positioning portrayed in the ads, the state's dairy cows lead miserable lives in muddy fields devoid of vegetation, and endure chemical and genetic manipulation to produce abnormally high quantities of milk.

However, Superior Court Judge David Garcia ruled that the government is exempt from the false advertising laws that apply to corporations.

Where does brand positioning stop and brand deceit begin? Well, Borden's had Elsie, the contented cow. And the French had La Vache qui Rit (the Laughing Cow.) But neither of these had the brand building muscle of the government behind them.