- Della de Lafuente

NEW YORK As part of its 2008 "Toma leche" ("Drink milk") TV campaign targeting Hispanic women, the California Milk Processor Board today breaks two TV spots featuring mythical elves and witches to tout the health benefits of milk.

The 60-second "Bruja" ("Witch") spot begins airing today on Hispanic TV in California. It tactfully and humorously draws on the conventional wisdom that during certain times of the month women may sometimes become witches when they are experiencing symptoms of PMS.

The spot is photographed in a sweeping cinematic style and is set in a fanciful faraway land complete with a wicked witch on a broom who chases and frightens away young children. The ad is one of two developed and executed for the 2008 marketing effort by the creative team at Grupo Gallegos, Long Beach, Calif.

After spooking the townspeople, the witch drinks a glass of milk left behind by those who dared to draw her ire. Through special effects and the power of milk, the witch is transformed from bad to beautiful. Her attitude (and appearance) adjustment results in a dramatic turnaround as she undoes evil misdeeds with acts of kindness.

The idea to highlight the health benefits of milk via the witch's transformation came from a comment made by a woman during a focus group, who described her monthly symptoms this way: "'When I've got PMS, I'm really a witch,'" said Juan Oubina, creative director, Grupo Gallegos.

Oubina said women consumers have reacted favorably to the commercial because they can relate to the problem, which is presented in a lighthearted, engaging and whimsical manner. And as does every good fairy tale, this story ends with a moral emphasizing a key yet relatively unknown health benefit of the product: "The calcium in milk reduces PMS symptoms. 'Toma leche' ('Drink milk.')"

"We've created two fables that we feel are really beautiful, funny and illustrative of the particular benefits of milk that we're trying to communicate," said Steve James, executive director, CMPB, the group best known for its ubiquitous "Got milk?" campaign.

The 60-second ad will run through March 23, followed on March 24 by the rotation of a 30-second version of "Bruja," per the CMPB.

Aimed at Latinas, the spot's messaging introduces a little known health benefit of milk to a Latino culture of women who traditionally have been told to avoid milk and other dairy products just prior to their menstrual cycles.

"What these spots accomplish so well and so seamlessly is that they entertain and get people's attention and engage them from a creative standpoint," said James. "Embedded in these spots are a serious nutritional message: the benefits of milk in helping to reduce the symptoms of PMS."

"Elfo" ("Elf"), a 30-second commercial that will break April 28, will promote the benefits of drinking milk before bedtime to get a restful night's sleep. In it, an elf with big ears enjoys a glass of milk before bed. He sleeps so well after drinking the "wonder tonic" that he's able to shut out all of the noise that can hinder his sleep, everything from chirping crickets to barking dogs, James said. Milk's benefits are touted at the end of the ad: "Protein in milk helps you get to sleep."

The CMPB spent $2.2 million in measured domestic Hispanic media in 2006, the most recent year for which spending data was available, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.