Silk’s Nextmilk made its own milk-mustache ads—with kids of the celebs in the originals
Ella Bleu Travolta and Brooklyn Peltz Beckham are among those courting the next generation, literally, for the plant-based milk brand
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MilkPEP’s milk mustache campaign is one of the most famous advertising efforts in history—with some 350 individual executions over two decades, beginning in the ’90s, more than half shot by Annie Leibowitz.
Now, Silk’s Nextmilk, a plant-based milk, is doing its own take on the campaign via the agency Orchard. And in a fun twist connecting Nextmilk to the next generation, the ads star the offspring of the celebs from the original campaign—including Brooklyn Peltz Beckham, Ella Bleu Travolta, Myles O’Neal (joined by siblings Shareef, Me’Arah, Shaqir and Amirah) and Sailor Brinkley Cook.
“We were hoping to get one or two names but it became an embarrassment of riches,” David Kolbusz, chief creative officer at Orchard, told Ad Age about securing the talent. “We were actually kind of surprised by who we got. And everyone was excited to be on board. Ella Travolta’s dad even popped by her shoot. He was super helpful behind the scenes, too.”
Kolbusz said the brand needed a campaign that could stand out to the next generation of milk drinkers.
“The market is super competitive, as plant-based alternatives have now become mainstream, and we know roughly half of consumers want a plant-based option that tastes like dairy,” he said. “So we needed a campaign that would stand out and give Nextmilk the stage it deserves. The ’stache is so iconic that it made sense to use it while referencing this and future generations of consumers.”
Beginning today, there will, of course, be a ’stache filter on TikTok. Consumers can use it for a chance to win free Silk Nextmilk for a year and be featured in a Silk Nextmilk billboard in Times Square.
The print and OOH work will appear on across social media and on billboards in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
“Almost all the work we do starts with a moment when someone utters the words, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if...’ and in this case it was no exception,” said Kolbusz. “We thought of the biggest swing we could take and everyone got excited about it. Usually at the point when things seem impossible and momentum dies, the good people at Silk matched our enthusiasm and it became a force multiplier.”
Below, check out the original milk-mustache ads with (clockwise from top left) David Beckham, Christie Brinkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kelly Preston.
