Got Milk? Refuses to 'Leverage’ Charlottesville to 'Promote' Milk

ashley.rae | August 21, 2017
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While seemingly every company has come out of the woodwork to take a brave stance condemning Nazism, the dairy processors behind the iconic “Got Milk?” campaign are taking a stand against brands exploiting the tragedy to support their products.

In response to brands distancing themselves from Nazism in light of the tragedy in Charlottesville, Wired reporter Ashley Feinberg asked Got Milk?, the organization of California milk processors, if they would condemn people using their product — milk — to ease the pain from being pepper sprayed:

Got Milk? responded by saying while they believe in the “values of unity, respect & equality,” they would not be taking a political stance in order to “promote ourselves or our products”:

 

The campaign's remarks come after brands that had nothing to do with organizing the Charlottesville rally — but merely had their products used by their participants — have come out to publicly condemn racism and white supremacy. TIKI Brand, the Detroit Red Wings, New Balance, and many others, have all issued high-profile statements under pressure to distance their brands from the protesters—and to gain customers by explaining the self-evident truth of how Nazis are bad.

While Got Milk? refused to participate in the self-congratulatory high-five by distancing themselves from the protesters, milk itself has become a symbol of white supremacy and Nazism. According to Mic, milk is “the new, creamy symbol of white racial purity in President Donald Trump's America.”

It is unclear whether Got Milk?’s alleged lack of comment on the issue will change the current conception of milk as being a white supremacist plot. Feinberg noted the statement was “pretty weak,” adding, “the real lesson here is that if you harass a brand enough you can get them to respond to anything”:

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