The Pet Milk Company “Happy Family” Advertising Campaign

Abstract

During the 1950s, the Pet Milk Company conducted a groundbreaking advertising campaign that used black spokespeople and unique ad copy to reach the so-called Negro market. The “happy family” campaign, led by the black ad executive W. Leonard Evans Jr., applied the well-established, but then largely ignored, market research dating back to the 1920s that proved the market potential and successful advertising methods for a distinct audience of black consumers. This qualitative study is the first to analyze the ads, which appeared in the Birmingham (Alabama) World, Washington (D. C.) Afro-American, Los Angeles Sentinel, and other black periodicals. The “happy family” campaign regularly exposed black consumers to PET Milk and promoted brand loyalty. It also reflected the growing civil rights movement and topics that would have resonated with the Negro market, including black pride, racial uplift, and equality with white individuals.