Is Chocolate Milk the New Gatorade?

No Comments | Written on March 9, 2012 at 1:00 pm, by Lesley Kennedy

Yes, your kids “got milk” after school — but do you “got chocolate milk” after your workout?

A tall, frosty glass of chocolate milk may not be the first thing you think of reaching for after your 5K run, but as USA Today reports, the Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP for short) is looking to change that. Yes, the same folks that brought us the wildly successful “Got Milk?” campaign are putting chocolate milk head-to-head with Gatorade.

Chocolate milk sales have dropped significantly as schools across the country have been ousting it from their cafeterias. But the milk industry has been taking note of studies that have found drinking fat-free chocolate milk after a hard-core run fuels a body better than a regular old sports drink.

“Chocolate milk has what athletes need to recover after a tough workout,” Julia Kadison, marketing vice president at MilkPEP, tells USA Today.

The industry group is set to launch a new ad campaign featuring adult athletes, such as NBA star Carmelo Anthony and Olympic swimming sensation Dara Torres, showing chocolate milk some all-star love. But don’t expect to see a new spate of chocolaty milk mustaches. The mustaches are gone, and the campaign’s primary tagline? “My After.”

Huh?

So, like, My After … a Tough Workout Drink. Um, okay.

Maybe it’s our Cinderella-loving daughters, but all we can think of are Disney princesses. (As in: “My after? Happily ever, of course.”)

Some nutrition experts aren’t so worried about the tagline, but the idea of drinking the stuff, period.

“As the pressure on schools has grown to get chocolate milk out, [the milk industry is] looking for any new marketing,” New York University nutrition professor Marion Nestle tells USA Today. “I’d never recommend drinking a sweetened drink. People shouldn’t drink their calories.”

So, what’s a hungry grown-up fresh off a seriously sweaty Core Power Yoga class supposed to do?

Nestle tells the newspaper: “Eat a sandwich.”

Turkey on rye … My After.