We have seen many successful advertisement works both in our country and in the world. There are some ads, just the color you see reminds you of what it wants to sell. Among them, one of the most famous brands is Milka. Even if you’ve never eaten it before, when we say purple cow, you probably think of Milka chocolate.
Although Milka is a very old brand, the use of purple cow in advertisements did not happen immediately. Although the company used the color purple until the 1970s, it had not thought of adding this color to the cow. How was the story of Milka’s transition to the purple cow, what processes did they go through, let’s talk about it.
In 1901, Milka launches its first milk chocolate with a purple package and a picture of a cow.
In fact, milk chocolate was produced by the Swiss in 1875, but it was expensive to reach at that time. Unlike its competitors, Milka used pure cocoa and fresh milk from the Alps in its chocolate production.
In fact, the name of the company is a combination of “Milch”, which means “milk” in German, and “Cocoa”. People, who were able to reach quality chocolate at a more affordable price with the production method that Milka used in chocolate production, loved Milka chocolate with this purple-colored package over time.
Milka has always been a brand that believed in advertising.
The company’s founder, Philippe Suchard, believed that advertising was crucial for the company’s growth. For this reason, a large part of the company’s turnover was devoted to advertising.
In the advertising works of the company, it is always seen that the Alps emphasize a peaceful and healthy life. The package of the first Milka chocolates was purple in color but featured the classic white-spotted brown cow.
The power of purple brought Milka forward.
The power that colors awaken in the human spirit is very important when making an advertisement. Adopting the color purple as early as 1900, Milka used a color that is rare in nature with this logical decision, and attracted the attention of customers with this bold approach.
In the 1970s, that famous purple cow appeared with a successful advertisement.
Determining mostly children as the target audience in its advertisements, Milka emphasizes the healthy feature of the milk in its chocolates, while at the same time prefers well-kept cows that symbolize the concept of calmness and comfort.
In 1972, the Frankfurt branch of the famous advertising agency Young & Rubicam sent director Ortstein and art director Szabo to Milka’s factory in Suchard to prepare for the new campaign.
The directors visiting the factory see that everything from the clothes of the employees in the facility to the factory itself is purple. Adopting the color purple, Milka has painted everything purple, from the machines they use in this factory to the vehicles used.
Seeing this, the duo, together with their agency, confronts Milka with a brand new project: “Why shouldn’t Milka cows be purple, too?” This idea is embraced by the Milka rulers and they immediately begin preparations to choose the first star.
Milka’s first star was the 800-pound “Adelheid”.
Milka chooses “Adelheid” cow from farmer Werner Kuhnen, who lives near the city of Bern, for this commercial. Weighing 800 kilograms, this cow has a well-groomed body, smooth horns, large udders and large white furry horns. Adelheid earns its owner 500-800 Swiss Francs for each draw.
For these shots, the visible side of the cow is colored with purple paint under the supervision of a veterinarian. Milka’s logo is added with a stencil on this color. Green food coloring is sprayed on the withered grass in the surrounding area. Many make-up artists even make up Adelheid with Chanel products.
In this process, an officer behind the camera constantly opens and closes an umbrella to attract Adelheid’s attention.
The most famous cow among them is “Schwalbe”.
The cow named Schwalbe (Swallow), who modeled for Milka between 1984-1990, after serving for many years, decided to hand over the town on the grounds that it was no longer productive.
However, when this event, which the journalists heard about, was published in the German newspaper Bild, the public objected. Thereupon, Milka’s managers stepped in and tied a monthly pension of 400 Marks to the owner of Schwalbe.
Milka’s purple cow is now indispensable for the company.
Even though many years have passed and the company has sometimes tried different things, customers have always wanted to see the purple cow. For this reason, it is possible to see purple cows everywhere, from Milka’s packaging to commercials.
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