Share
clip 1Clip description
John and his family are introduced through a real life family album. As the pages are turned, the voice-over tells the story of their lives. The first picture is of John as a young boy, followed by a picture of John and his wife on their wedding day. Their four children – Barbara, Peter, Janet and Ian – are shown and each describes what they do. The youngest, Ian, says he loves ‘football, cricket and MILO’. This reveals them as a ‘real MILO family’. They are shown in their living room drinking cups of MILO which they drink regularly and before bedtime every night.
A product shot is accompanied by voice-over listing MILO’s properties as a ‘fortified tonic food’ infused with vitamins and minerals, along with its chocolate flavoured blend of country milk and malted cereals.
Curator’s notes
While the product has not changed, the way that MILO has been packaged, branded and marketed certainly has. The product shot at the end of this ad shows a mutely coloured tin with ‘fortified tonic food’ clearly visible. Today MILO advertisements use high profile sporting personalities and are aimed at young people with active lifestyles. Its existence as a ‘fortified tonic’ food has become ‘energy food’ drink in most cases, and the dull packaging has been replaced by the familiar bright green background.
It is interesting to note also that while John and his family are all identified by name, John’s wife and mother of their children remains nameless. This perhaps reflects attitudes of the time towards the family unit where the husband was the head of the household, and the spouse’s identity was as a wife and mother.
