A new online campaign for the California Milk Processor Board, home of the “Got milk?” tagline, features the group White Gold.

This faux band, fronted by an axeman of the same name, offers catchy tracks such as “Liquid Lullaby.” The campaign, via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, launched a MySpace page featuring the video for “One Gallon Axe.” Network TV spots will air in California and, in the near future, the White Gold catalog will become available on iTunes. Regional print, outdoor and a Web site support.

The CMPB’s first all Web-based effort comes as milk prices are rising and consumption is declining. U.S. consumption fell 14 percent between 1981-2006, per the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Still, considering the shift away from colas, there appears to be an opportunity, said Paul Charney, senior copywriter at Goodby: “Young people are now more open to [milk]. More people are drinking other soft drinks, juices, energy drinks. Milk wanted to figure out how to be competitive and stay current.”

Two videos and six TV spots have been shot. One video features the guitarist and singer named White Gold clad in a white-and-gold striped shirt and gold vinyl pants. He is playing a transparent, milk-filled guitar from which he can drink as he plays. The video also features levitation, a white llama and a couple of kids sitting at a table while White Gold pours milk on their cereal from his guitar.

Despite only running offline ads in California, “the beauty of having [White Gold] on the Internet is that it can be picked up universally,” said Steve James, executive director, CMPB.

CMPB spent $9 million on U.S. ads last year, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Goodby’s “Got milk?” campaign debuted in 1993.

Source: Adweek