About & contact
The Milk Mustache Database is an independent collector’s archive of the milk mustache advertising campaign — “Milk. What a surprise!”, “Milk. Where’s your mustache?” and “got milk?” — from its launch in 1994–95 onward, together with the contests, promotions, merchandise, foreign versions and parodies it produced. Each record gives what is known about an ad: who is in it, when and where it ran, what the copy says, and where a copy of it can be found.
The site was created and is maintained by Joshua Patrick Dudley, who ran the collector site Milk Ad Collecting and Trading in the late 1990s and rebuilt the collection twice.
What this site is for
It is a reference record, not a fan gallery. The campaign ran for more than twenty years in hundreds of magazines and newspapers, and no complete list of its ads was ever published by the people who made it. Once the magazines are thrown away, the only record left is what collectors kept. This site writes that record down: each ad, its date, its placements, its photographer, its copy, its variants, and where a copy can be found today.
How to contribute
The Missing ads page lists every documented ad that still has no image. Scans of those, clearer scans of ads already here, and issue and page numbers for any placement are all wanted. A scan of the printed page at any size is best; a phone photo is enough to confirm a placement. Corrections to names, dates and credits are just as useful. Contributors are credited on the record. Send anything through joshuadudley.com.
Citing this archive
Every ad has a permanent address at milkmustachedatabase.com/ad/[id].html, shown on each record. Cite as: Milk Mustache Database, “[ad title]”, that address, and the date you looked at it.
Not affiliated
This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP), the California Milk Processor Board, Dairy Management Inc., the National Dairy Council, their advertising agencies, or any brand, publication or person shown in the ads. “got milk?” and the other trademarks shown belong to their owners.
Copyright
The advertisements reproduced here remain the property of their copyright holders. They are shown for historical documentation, research and commentary on the campaign. If you hold the rights to an image and would like it credited differently or removed, please get in touch through joshuadudley.com and it will be dealt with promptly.