Wisconsin doesn't really need to work to hard at selling cheese. The state's cheese-makers seem to market everything they make. But the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board collects a cents-per-pound fee/tax/royalty/whatever from the dairymen, so they have to do something with that cash. That's how we in Madison end up seeing giant billboards around the city with big pictures of cheese and nice little quips.
Yes, they are selling Wisconsin cheese to Wisconsinites, on the chance that people in Madison may be tempted to stray and buy out-state cheese, god forbid. Seems a little misguided, but some clients like preaching to the choir. It's easy to execute and if you are buying local billboards, and you get to see them when you're driving around. You can point to them and say, "Yeah. That's me." (It has nothing to do with the nice seats the billboard company has to all those Badger and Packer games, no sir-ee Bob.)
Fair enough. When you know the ads don't really have to do anything measurable, having a "talking to ourselves strategy is pretty easy if not exciting or original. But if the boys over at the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board really want to get the attention of the locals... well, at least the men, they'll borrow this idea from the French Cheese Makers Association play book that uses a fool-proof ad strategy: Sex.
Ooh La La, doncha know?
I can just imagine those guys at the photo shoot, drooling all over the sets. With their budget, they could probably cover every tavern, truck stop and auto parts store in Wisconsin and all the surrounding states.
Uh huh. They'll be doing this when cows fly.
