Milk sales plummeted in California last year. Busy people who skip breakfast or eat on the run were also skipping their daily glass of milk.

We needed to create a new occasion for milk consumption.

Grandma told us that drinking milk before bed can help us fall asleep. But then Grandma died. And that little piece of wisdom was forgotten, even though it’s true. Now we’re getting our sleep advice from drug companies and supermarket shelves packed with pills and concoctions.

To boost milk sales, we needed to remind people of Grandma’s advice. We needed to revive the idea that if you need a real, simple way to fall asleep, there’s a drink for that.

When the sun went down, we spoke up. On television, we showed how milk brings better sleep, and better sleep equals better dreams.

At 8:00 every night, our 1-855-MILK-ZZZ hotline opened. Sleep agents were waiting for your call and standing by at milkzzz.com to help you fall asleep. You could hear the World’s Most Boring Man read you the number pi, for example.

Our radio commercials inspired people with the dreams they could be having if they’d just had the bedtime drink before sleep.

Then we spread contagious YAWNS all over California. During late-night television, online and in bus shelters all over the state, we simply showed people and animals yawning. People couldn’t resist yawning along. The contagious power of the yawn was too strong.

IN JUST THE FIRST THREE WEEKS:

33.6 M impressions

3,151 minutes spent on the hotline

58% of viewers reported they now drink milk before bed

Milk sales already on the rise

One hundred percent of viewers yawned at our campaign.

And for once, that’s exactly what we wanted.