Michael Bay directed a milk commercial and nothing even blows up in it
Bay's responsible for the 1993 "Got Milk?" ad that kicked off the whole campaign
Film Features Michael Bay
Back when Michael Bay was still just a young, up-and-coming director, he got his work where he could find it. The early Bay-days saw him shooting music videos, making a name for himself as the auteur responsible for translating the music of Vanilla Ice, Winger, Aerosmith, Tina Turner, Meat Loaf, Styx, and Donny Osmond to television. But, during this period, Bay also directed another, even more essential piece of ‘90s culture: The very first “Got Milk?” ad.
In 1993, before he had both Nic Cage and Sean Connery in his rolodex, Bay led actor Sean Whalen (Twister; Tammy And The T-Rex) in his unforgettable performance as “Alexander Hamilton Scholar Who Eats Too Much Peanut Butter And Can’t Answer Alexander Hamilton Trivia.”
The ad sees Whalen’s character sitting around a studio loft/Hamilton museum slopping peanut butter all over a piece of bread. He wedges the “sandwich” into his mouth as he hears a radio contest promise to award $10,000 to the caller who can answer the question, “Who shot Alexander Hamilton in that famous duel?” (Because this commercial is stacked with talent, the radio DJ is voiced by Rob Paulsen.)
Surrounded by artifacts of the duel, mind buzzing with gunshot sound effects as images of Hamilton and Aaron Burr memorabilia flicker across the screen, Whalen’s character tries to answer the question but can’t because he’s suffering from a dire case of “peanut butter mouth.” The DJ can’t understand his answer and he reaches in desperation for a carton of milk to clear his gob. It’s empty. “Got milk?” the ad asks, chilling all would-be trivia winners to their bones.
Bay and his collaborators would later go on to win multiple awards for their work on the ad but time would forget his contribution to the project, distracted by flashy Hollywood movies featuring major celebrities, multi-million dollars budgets, but, ultimately, not enough calls for viewers to slam pints of cow juice for our preference.
[via Gawker]
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54 Comments
I loved this commercial as a kid! And now it’s probably my favorite thing that Bay has done. Though the ridiculousness that is Bad Boys 2 is a close second.
Drama of the highest order. Why he couldn’t have done this with Transformers…
As a kid, I always thought advertisements like ‘got milk’ and ‘part of this complete breakfast’ were responsible initiatives to get kids to eat better.
Of course, now I realize that they were basically industry lobbying groups, and a 2300 calorie breakfast is only ‘complete’ in the sense that it completely destroys my toilet before noon.
I was relieved to find out that just because I didn’t consume a bowl of cereal, two slices of buttered toast, a glass of milk, a glass of orange juice, two eggs, and sausage links every day before school didn’t mean I was malnourished.
I tried it once, cereal and orange juice in the same meal really sucked.
Milk and OJ, with a mixture of toothpaste and mint-flavored dental floss to cleanse the palate afterwards.
The dairy and plumbers’ unions are in league!
I listened to a podcast a few years ago (wish I could remember which) that went into the big milk/cheese push. It had something to do with the war I think? And there was a surplus of cows, lobbying, and technology making production faster/easier. By the 80’s they realized they had to do something with this growing surplus, so by the late 80’s/early 90’s you got a huge advertising push for milk, cheese, and beef (it’s what’s for dinner!).
Everything blowed up.
One minute or less is exactly the right amount of Michael Bay.
Did the kid realize that any fluid would’ve cleared his mouth and he could’ve won the prize for knowing dumb stupid shit?
I’m sure the fridge was filled with soda, purple stuff, Sunny D, hell I’m sure the old man wouldn’t’ve even minded if he took one of his Coors Light’s if it meant finally getting to put all those years of Hamilton lessons to some use…
What were we talking about?
He doesn’t even need to drink, just spit out the one in his mouth, that’s it.
As per fucking usual, Bay is aping Ridley Scott:
And thus a muffled ‘Aaron Burr’ became a running gag that I still giggle at to this day.
I have known about this fact for years. I am a big Ephe-Bay-phile, the official term for fans of Michael Bay.
I’m not sure if your name is meant to invoke the cars 4 kids jingle, but I definitely prefer this version.
Whoops responded to the wrong post
“The official name”No, let’s try to top that…NARRATOR: “They never did…”
I bet your co-conventions with the National Association of Marlin Brando Look Alikes draws a whole lot of attention
Every time I watch That Thing You Do and this guy shows up, I always just think “AARON BURR!” and I will never stop.This is a truly outstanding commercial, and I think it peaks at the shot of “The Bullet” in the glass case.
How often do you watch That Thing You Do? It wasn’t that fucking good.
I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL, SIR.
I Oh-Need-Er if you have the guts to show up!
Wasn’t that good? Ya just got served…by yourself.
as a better songwriter said: Ya Gotta Serve Somebody
And I insist upon service with a smile.
I HAVE YOUR BACK, SIR!
You’ve expressed many dumb opinions on this site, but this may be your worst.
And I am thankful you are not laserface or you would’ve plowed thru my comment history and shared screenshots of every one of them. Oh well, back to dumb opinions: Tom Hanks is a jerk-off.
It wasn’t? Damnit, I’ve spent 25 years occasionally watching this very pleasant movie for NOTHING!!!
It’s in my top-10 color films.
When I was in elementary school (late 80s) Sean Whalen came by and did one of those “What’s it like to be in this field of work” presentations because he was related to one of the school’s admin or something. This was when he was mostly known for being in the “It’s cheese” Little Caesar’s commercial.
Hey, isn’t that our fan?
The afterlife one was really good too.
This commercial is what inspired Lin Manuel Miranda to write Hamilton!It actually isn’t but I really wish it was.
It did, however, inspire this:
Between this and Zack Synder did the Bud Super Bowl ad with kneeling in front of Ground Zero in New York big starts for big movie guys.
His name was Robert Paulsen.
I think his name was Aaron Burr actually.
*Paulson
I was debating the spelling since the DJ’s name is Paulsen and the pop culture reference is Paulson, so I went with the DJ spelling. Maybe I should have put this in with my original post, but then it might have just complicated things.
“and nothing even blows up in it”
No mention of how a certain Broadway play has made this commercial more relevant?
This commercial was so iconic and delightful that nothing, not even Hamilton, could have made it more relevant to any day of the week.
I see he still managed to fit a gun in there, though.
This happened in 1993 and everyone knows about it. Why is this an article today?
I bet at least half of us here weren’t even born in 93.
I started medical school in 1993.That would make me the other half.(It’s deductive powers like this which is why I’m a doctor!)
And it’s just been steadily downhill ever since.
Maybe it’s just me, but I always thought people knew that Michael Bay made this. It’s a huge deal, and one of the most iconic pieces of advertising of the last 30 years. Plus, you can see Bay trying to graft this energy onto all of his films to varying results.
Now this why I have the internet. Next time a random radio station calls to ask who directed the first “Got Milk” commercial I’ll be all set.
Fatboy Slim to the rescue yet again.
It should also be noted that the radio announcer was Rob Paulsen, aka Yakko Warner, Pinky, Carl Wheezer, Raphael, and a ton more.