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Jul 18, 2008, 07:23AM

Milk, Now Served In Cans

Cafe Glace

This cute reference to hard agricultural labor seems funny enough, if anyone actually worked on farms anymore. Thanks big agra, for making our food in magical lands far away and delivering it to us in tightly wrapped clear plastic.

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A little old lady from Newfoundland had worked in and around her family dairy farms since she was old enough to walk, with hours of hard work and little compensation. When canned Carnation Milk became available in grocery stores in approximately the 1940's, she read an advertisement offering $5,000 for the best slogan. The producers wanted a rhyme beginning with "Carnation Milk is best of all..."
She thought to herself, I know all about milk and dairy farms...I can do this!
She sent in her entry, and about a week later, a black limo drove up in front of her house...a man got out and said, "Carnation LOVED your entry so much, we are here to award you $1000, even though we will not be able to use it...
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Discussion
  • Jpeg.jpg?ixlib=rails 2.1

    Doing Deities

    commented

    I agree, it's too tidy of a story.

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  • Missing sm

    russ

    Splice staff
    commented

    Actually, this isn't hard to believe. Decades ago, companies held regular contests, offering prizes of various magnitude, for jingles, essays and slogans. My mother, from the late-40s to the mid-60s (when contests were replaced by sweepstakes), won over 1000 prizes, which greatly supplemented our family of seven's income. Here prizes ranged from cameras and appliances, to five all-expenses paid trips to Europe and a 1960 Valiant car. When Shea Stadium opened in '64, she won 30 tickets to one game, so the whole neighborhood went. My favorite memory, besides the car, was when she won 500 silver dollars from Dr. Pepper (which was still a regional soda and not available in our Long Island area), as well as 10 cases of the great soda. Her last big prize was a contest sponsored by a bridal magazine, and she won a trip to the Virgin Islands for one my brothers and his new wife.

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    Doing Deities

    commented

    Let me tag team on that one, too. It's totally believable to me that companies ran contests and gave out prizes. They still do. What I'm skeptical of is that rural woman in the 1940s would write a ditty with the words shit and bitch in it, then have it so well-received that the company would give away $1,000. (That's like $50 million in 2008 money, right?) But anyway, it seems more likely that someone came up with a clever rhyme and a cute story than it actually happening, on account of the cursing and the general tendency of corporations to not give away money when they wouldn't even get publicity for it.

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  • Missing sm

    russ

    Splice staff
    commented

    You might be right, Deities, about the cursing, etc. But it's not out of the realm of possibility that the company had other, unknown, designs in mind with this particular person. And it's not far-fetched that they'd give away $1000 to a slogan that wasn't used; that happened a lot, to the second, third and fourth place winners. But I'm wondering: although my mom met her maker 25 years ago, what companies are still doing contests based on skill?

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