ClS—Uncaster Fannins, Saturday, lum 7,1980
Meet the walking, talking promotion critters
BY SALLY BAIR
Staff Correspondent
LANCASTER If a giant
piece of cheese starts
walking toward you during a
mall promotion for daily
products, don’t be alarmed.
Chances are it is simply The
Big Cheese wanting to be a
little friendlier and promote
Pennsylvania’s dairy
products.
The Big Cheese and his
counterpart Martin the Milk
Carton are just two of a bevy
of “agri-animals” being
produced by the Penn
sylvania Department of
Agriculture’s Bureau of
Markets in an effort to
promote use of agricultural
commodities.
The dairy agri-animals
were introduced on Monday
this week during the kick-off
of the June is Dairy Month
celebration at the state
capitol, and will become
more well-known throughout
the month of June as they
appear throughout the state
on behalf of the dairy in
dustry.
The Big Cheese and
Martin the Milk Carton are
elaborate costumes which
will be donned by Depart
ment of Agriculture em
ployees and others in
promotional events. Connie
Harness, chief of
agricultural promotions for
the Bureau of Markets, said
the animated characters will
“meet the public, talk with
kids and shake hands. They
Milton the Milk Carton is one of two dairy promotion characters in the
Agriculture Department's family of ‘agri-animals’. They travel to shows,
shopping centers, and fairs across the Commonwealth to promote dairy
products.
will be outgoing and
talkative.”
She noted that at their first
appearance they were
somewhat shy although The
Big Cheese overcame his
shyness to give hugs to some
in the crowdr
She added, “People in the
costumes will be
knowledgeable and will be
able to answer questions
about the commodities.”
The concept is not totally
finished, she said. The
Department presently is
developing brochures which
will have a picture of the
agri-animals for
autographing and on the
reverse side there will be
nutritional information,
recipes and other facts about
the commodities. These
brochures and others will be
distributed by the charac
ters as they promote their
specific products.
In the case of Martin and
the Big Cheese, additional
literature is being provided
by the Keystone Milk
Marketing Board and the
Atlantic Dairy Council.
It should come as no
surprise that the two dairy
characters are fully booked
through the month of June.
Harness explained each
agri-animal will have his
own calendar and bookings
will be made through
the promotion office.
“We will keep their
schedules and know where
they are,” Connie said.
The agri-animals will be
available to any agricultural
group in the state, although
transportation to events not
sponsored by the Depart
ment of Agriculture will be
the responsibility of those
making the request.
In case taxpayers have
visions of needing to hire
transportation for these
lovable creatures, Connie
points out that both of them
are foldable and collapsible
so that they will fit easily
into a station wagon.
It is also the resnonsibility
of the sponsoring group to
find someone to wear the
costume. In the case of
Department-sponsored ev
ents, Harness said either
regional coordinators will
wear the costumes or find
someone else to wear them.
The costumes for the two
dairy characters were paid
for through a $l,OOO con
tribution of the Keystone
Milk Marketing Council.
Harness said Martin the
Milk Carton was selected as
representative of all dairy
products, and the carton
includes a list of products
made from milk.
The Big Cheese was
selected because it was an
easily made costume and
because it represents
Pennsylvania’s growing
cheese industry.
“We feel cheese stands as
a food by itself,” Harness
said.
In Pennsylvania the dairy
V
*****
A wink of the eye and a wave of the hand are extended to one and all by The
Big Cheese. The Big Cheese is one of a whole family of ‘agri-animals’ used to
promote Pennsylvania farm products.
industry is a billion dollar
industry and it ranks fifth in
the nation in production.
“We like to promote milk
as the most complete,
versatile food and one that’s
perfect with breakfast, lunch
or dinner,” Harness states.
She said they feel the
concept of agn-aramals will
be especially appealing to
children.
“We think children are an
important audience because
it is important for them to
get nutritional information
on the basic four food
groups. We want them to see
that milk is good for growing
kids and that it builds strong
bones and teeth. We also
want to sell kids on the
product. It we appear to kids
they may ask Mom to buy.
We think they are an in
fluencing factor.”
She said she also hopes
children will take home the
autographed pictures of the
characters and keep them.
“This way they’ll not only
be reminded about the
character but also will have
the facts about the products
in a language they can un
derstand.”
In addition to the dairy
characters, the Department
is also creating To-To the
Tomato, Mushroom Mun
chkm, King Arthur Apple,
the Bab> Beef, Corny Cor-
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nelius and P.A. Spuds. They
will be made one at a time,
and will be available for
booking as each is finished.
Harness noted the Apple
Marketing Board is helping
to finance King Arthur
Apple, and said that the agri
animal line-up is open to
other animals as suggestions
are made and funds become
available.
Promotion is the basis for
the agri-animals, and
Harness said she feels they
will go a long way in
promoting Pennsylvania
products.
“We want to promote
Pennsylvania agriculture
and commodities. If we can’t
make agriculture number
one in the economy, at least
we can make it number one
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m people’s minds. We need
to convince people how
important it is to buy Penn
sylvania products. We must
let consumers know we have
all the products available.
Many do not realize how
important it is to the
economy.”
She said the idea of
characters came to her
primarily because of the
popularity of Sesame Street
characters and others.
Perhaps Martin the Milk
Carton and The Big Cheese
will become as familiar to
children as Big Bird and
Oscar the Grouch.
If so, the result will be
advantageous to both the
dairy industry and to the
consumers who use its
nutritious products.
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