The coronavirus pandemic has been such a shot in the arm for Big Dairy that the "Got Milk?" ads are being brought out of retirement.
The big picture: Many Americans fully stocked their fridges in March, with sales of all kinds of milk up big compared to last year.
- Kids who were no longer having meals at school were drinking milk at home, AP reports. Homebound adults suddenly had time for a leisurely bowl of cereal. Baking and cooking at home soared.
That trend held into the summer.
- Dairy milk was up 21% year-over-year in March, and up 2% year-over-year in June.
- Oat milk was up 270% to $132 million in that stretch, and almond milk, coconut milk and rice milk were also up.
Between the lines: This round of "Got Milk?" is expected to be different, AP notes.
- TV ads feature videos culled from the Internet of people opening a gallon with their toes or jumping into a kiddie pool filled with milk and cereal.
- In one TikTok spot, Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky swims the length of a pool with a glass of chocolate milk balanced on her head.
The bottom line: The dairy industry is in long-term decline, and that will probably return when Americans eventually go back to offices and schools.
- Milk sales declined 13% from 2010 to 2018, CNN reported last year.
- America's dairies are also closing at a rapid rate, with many small dairy farmers exiting the industry under financial duress.
But for now, at least, milk is giving some people a rare sense of normal.