If culture relies on the fabrication of stereotypical relations, then American culture is milked to adhere to it. Differential members of society tend to become masked, fake, or conformed to conventional gender, class, and age roles due to a lack of acceptance. This necessity to mask our personal attributes in order to advertise ourselves in a structured role, handed to us by society, has been satirized by the Got Milk? Campaign since 1993 (Classic Got Milk). The campaign shows that our endured culture is about satisfying others, yielding to the different characters predestined by our standing in society and culture. By this, milk (which is marked by a collaborated California Milk Processor Board) becomes the selling point of a gender dictated, masked American culture that endorses the stereotypical status of family units, which inevitably leads to gender roles in corporate America and patriarchal relationships (Classic Got Milk).
Television advertisements are a good example of how the Got Milk? promotion uses these unique human qualities in order to connect with an audience and show them how milk can solve all of their problems and lay down the path to becoming socially normal. In this particular commercial, the family is trying to mask their uncommon qualities in order to conform to society’s notion that only nuclear families are successful and appropriate in society. Along with the families abnormality, milk is able to repair the strong willed mother into the proper female role of being the homemaker who is submissive and simple. After a slight dispute with her resistant children, the mother is able to convince her children to drink the milk and structure themselves into their designated places in life. According to the ideal family roles, children are supposed to be respectful of their parents and accept all wisdom and advice without hesitation; in other words the children should not have been debating and using scapegoats to avoid drinking the milk. Milk, as proposed by this advertisement, not only helps mask us into what our culture dictates us to be, but also allows us to even out the playing field that has been unfairly dealt to us. The family, though not quite within the desired scope of their roles, is made better than their neighbor because of milk’s assistance.
At close glance of this commercial, the family has left small clues to the personal characteristics that they are trying to mask. The meal being lovingly prepared by their mother and that which is placed on the plates only consists of mashed potatoes, broccoli and corn. Accepted norms of dinners typically contain meat as the main entrée, however there is absolutely no evidence of this central necessity for an accepted meal. Being vegetarian now-a-days has become more common, however few people robustly project themselves as active vegetarians because of how ostracized they still would be treated. Something that defines us and makes each person unique should be celebrated, but because of the context of our life we are urged to mask it with other actions. Just as people would not broadcast their being vegetarian, the commercial also conceals the family’s food choices. It is difficult to catch the evidence that they are a very health conscious family who partakes in an anti-meat lifestyle, but just as with people you can distinguish that there is something unique and special about this family. This façade of personal attributes, influenced by our daily culture, is causing American culture to become assimilated and uninteresting.
The family has another subtle aspect that places them in the minority category, this is not a nuclear family like what American culture dictates or expects. When looking at the dining room table, there are only three possible place settings (the side closest to the window does not have the room or the decorations to likely be another place setting). As it is dinner time and there is no father, it is safe to assume that either there is no paternal influence present in the children’s lives or that he is away significantly due to America’s never ending corporate obligations. The mother, however, does not appear to be a working class, single mom. She not only is able to prepare a nightly meal for the children, but she also conscientiously is trying to educate her children and keep them healthy. By acting as if she were a typical stay at home mom, she is masking her true hardships and role as a single parent to her two trying children.
Similar to Kathleen LeBesco’s experiences with Jell-O and the gender implications within their advertising, milk consumers are often driven to either conform or resist this dictating constraint on their lives. When it came to Jell-O, the advertisements were telling the women that it was their job to “make someone happy,” and that someone was always a superior male in their life (LeBesco 192). According to Jell-O advertisements women were to be the care takers who submitted themselves to the powerful men; they were to stay within the cultural context of their female role. Milk implies these same ideals to women, showing them that no matter the particulars of their life they are to fit within their sex determined category. Milk and Jell-O are promoted as healthy meal accompaniments, appealing to the female shoppers who are to care for their male counterparts and children. Advertisements for products like these are rarely marketed towards males, it is the female’s job to shop, cook, and care for everyone in the family.
The attributions discovered in the Got Milk? commercial are not mainstream or eagerly shown to the public eye; however occasionally they are expressed to test the waters often facing rejection. Feeling slightly insecure and down on ourselves, humans will try anything to make themselves equal to or better than their neighbors and community, the people who are judging and guiding them. At the end of this advertisement, milk is consumed in order to rid themselves of those disapproving characteristics that life has unfairly dealt them. Milk is something they can control in order to put their life on the track that has been dictated to them by their life standings. Milk is the mask they pull over themselves, appearing just as culture shaped society to desire.
Another example of milk and culture is seen in this milk commercial that targets corporate America and its indifferent attitudes towards living a masked lifestyle. The business man suggests the stereotypical crude man who is obnoxious and rude by pushing an elderly lady and demonstrating his authority by screaming into his mobile phone. Instantly, American culture is portrayed as accepting a fast past lifestyle, unaware of its repercussions from guilt and indifference. Ironically, the business man that appears to have power, does not look intimidating or domineering, but instead has a fairly small stature with a cocky attitude. The attitude of the man assumes an assigned role as a crude businessman. Since he may feel subjected into this position as a corporate leader, he embellishes his assigned position. Corporate America has enforced gender roles in the sense that it is a male dominant role. As seen in the previous ad, a woman is in the kitchen at home with the children and in this ad, a man walks down the business streets. He adores his place in society as a corporate, male leader, immune to the repercussions of his actions.
At this point, milk has not even been introduced as the focal point. Only when the man gets hit by a truck in his state of oblivion does he find himself in a world of white. A male, dying in the presence of a beautiful woman, enters “eternity.” The façade of a heavenly world encourages the man to believe he has done nothing wrong and has landed himself in heaven. Symbolism such as a dove flying and whiteness representing purity starkly contrast the hustle and bustle of any city street corner. Then the door shuts, enclosing the man in a room. This event mirrors a trapped culture that is content with living the corporate vignette, a painted life masked by greed and selfishness. When the door shuts, a hint of fear crosses the man’s face, but he soon returns to having the attitude of an arrogant character.
The first glance at the heavenly room targets cookies on a table with light shining on them. Coloring the room white not only masks this heavenly place, but induces a subliminal thirst after seeing the cookies. Additionally, the objects are quite odd. Music plays, but not from the piano, a clock with no hands demonstrates eternity, flowers, a fish, a cat, and a statue are all focused on in the commercial. However, milk becomes the one desirable product in this heaven. It is a common American practice to have milk and cookies, either as a late night snack with the kids, or it is seen when left out for Santa Claus during Christmas. Since thirst is induced, why not ask for water? There is obviously water in this place because the fish swims in it. Again, the white washed room and the cookies target a particular beverage to crave.
Ultimately, a refrigerator with dozens of generically labeled milk cartons captures the climax for that last stretch of heaven. A fictional lifestyle fabricated by the standards of a socialized America boils down to whether or not milk completes it. All the objects are idealized. For example, the cookies are gigantic, and the woman represents calmness and beauty; almost as if it is her duty to accompany the male through to the afterlife and provide a giant batch of sweets. However, the façade continues and the man reconsiders his location in heaven when he realizes the milk cartons are empty. The man is no longer an icon in the corporate world, nor a believer in the fallacy of his heaven, all attributed to the staple need for milk.
Interestingly, the advertising of the Got Milk? commercials follow this similar trend of masking the truth. While each of the ads display generically labeled milk cartons, the small print in these ads attributes the commercialization of milk to the California Milk Processor Board. Initially, the labeling appears to be a promotion by the government, to live healthier by drinking milk. However, the underlying goal of the ads is to sell more milk. It becomes increasingly clear that American culture accepts claims at face value. For instance, the American tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving is taught from a young age that the Pilgrims and Indians remained friendly and helpful to one another. Unfortunately, American culture avoids accepting that the tradition is a “myth” and the American rituals are based on symbolism unknown to today’s practices (Siskind 192). Whether the practices be false traditions, or a masked lifestyle, milk sells a culture that has become white washed and accepts claims at face value.
Continuing with the theme of making claims and accepting them at face value, this advertisement for milk is an example of a commercial making claims about the potential health benefits of milk, with very little specific evidence to substantiate these claims. The claim is that "A recent study has shown that calcium may reduce the symptoms of PMS." Although no women appear in the advert the stereotypical idea of what the symptoms of PMS are is portrayed through the actions of the men in the commercial. The idea that women are irritable and irrational when suffering from PMS leads the men to try anything in order to relieve these symptoms.
The advert begins with two men frantically grabbing milk from a supermarket shelf. It then goes on to show a man taking milk from a milk van. The claim about calcium helping to relieve the symptoms of PMS then appears on screen and the statement is read aloud by a male voice. The fact that the images of men grabbing the milk appears before the reasons behind the advertisement are revealed means that the audience is allowed to draw their own conclusions on what the commercial is about before the actual idea is stated. The advert uses a stereotypical generalization, that all women have PMS and that the symptoms of PMS affect their partners and husbands most. Although the commercial features only men, it is actually aimed at women. It is trying to persuade women that their symptoms of PMS affect the men in their lives in such a way that the men are willing to do anything in order to stop these symptoms and so by making the fremale audience feel guilty about their behavior the advertising company hopes to encourage them to buy more milk based on a vague statement about possible benefits. The idea portrayed in the commercial conforms to the image of patriarchal relationships whereby women are dominated by the men they share relationships with. The men in the advertisement do not actually explain their feeling’s about the women’s PMS symptoms, instead they choose to try and change things discreetly by increasing their partner’s calcium intake through milk without informing the women of what their intentions are. This gender specific stereotyping can be seen in the passage "Outdoor Hospitality: The Gentleman Plays With Fire' written by Harry Botsford, in it he says that ‘After all, outdoor cookery is a man’s job. A woman presiding over a barbecue grill looks as incongruous as a man engaged in doing a trifle of lacy tatting" (Botsford 3). This is an example of a cultural stereotype, that women cannot use a barbecue grill, which has no substantiating evidence to back it up. There is no reason why women cannot use a grill just as well as a man, it is a gender stereotype which makes women feel as if they are less entitled to use a grill. Similarly a gender stereotype dictates that the woman of the household must do all the cooking in the kitchen; "The lady who usually presides in the kitchen" (Botsford 2).
Another aspect of American culture which is evident in this commercial is the need to have everything instantaneously. The corporate America that exists today means people are used to having everything on demand. Whether it is food, coffee or internet access society is now accustomed with getting what they want, when they want. This is reflected by the actions of the men in this advertisement who obtain as much milk as they can so they do not have to wait to see results, they can get them immediately and so continue their fast paced lifestyle.
The claim that the commercial is promoting is that taking calcium may reduce the symptoms of PMS, however the way in which the advert portrays this claim makes it seem as if drinking more milk is the only way to achieve this increased intake of calcium. The advertising company is hoping that the American people, women in particular, will be unconcerned with the actual amount of calcium that is required and instead will just buy more milk. In reality, if you read the small print, it says, "Majority of women’s symptoms reduced after 3 months taking 1200mg Calcium/day." In order to have an intake of 1200mg calcium/day with milk as the sole source of calcium you would have to drink around 31 fluid ounces of 2% fat milk, based on the data provided by the IDFA website that 2% milk contains 298mg of calcium per cup (International Dairy Foods Association). Advertisements by the Got Milk? creators published in magazines, states that the recommended daily amount of milk that should be drunk is 24 fl Oz. Therefore, in order to achieve the 1200mg of calcium/day that was shown to have an effect on the symptoms of PMS, women would have to drink more than the recommend amount of milk every day.
The advertising company uses stereotypical ideas about gender and patriarchal relationships to appeal to women's sense of guilt and thereby sell more milk based on the vague concept of its beneficial properties without ever justifying its claims.
Through depictions of masked family units that lead to corporate America, along with patriarchal relationships, milk encompasses an American culture that is blanketed with fallacy. Milk becomes the determining factor of returning an unusual family back to normal by proving that milk is the only way to steer away from uncommon practices. Additionally, these nuclear family units reinforce corporate America by encouraging male dominance in the workplace, thus transforming business men into corporate chauvinists. Even milk proves to be the one missing element in a fabricated heaven. Finally, following premeditated gender roles, patriarchal relations leads to the guilt of women experiencing strong symptoms of PMS where only milk can solve men’s fear of their wives. Milk, something previously assumed as culturally insignificant, has become the cloudy substance which we can hide our true identities behind and portray ourselves as a part of the perfect American culture.
LeBesco, Kathleen "Jell-o, Gender, and Social Class" from Cooking Lessons: The Politics of Gender and Food. New York. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2001.
Siskind, Janet. "The Invention of Thanksgiving: A Ritual of American Nationality."
If culture relies on the fabrication of stereotypical relations, then American culture is milked to adhere to it. Differential members of society tend to become masked, fake, or conformed to conventional gender, class, and age roles due to a lack of acceptance. This necessity to mask our personal attributes in order to advertise ourselves in a structured role, handed to us by society, has been satirized by the Got Milk? Campaign since 1993 (Classic Got Milk). The campaign shows that our endured culture is about satisfying others, yielding to the different characters predestined by our standing in society and culture. By this, milk (which is marked by a collaborated California Milk Processor Board) becomes the selling point of a gender dictated, masked American culture that endorses the stereotypical status of family units, which inevitably leads to gender roles in corporate America and patriarchal relationships (Classic Got Milk).
Television advertisements are a good example of how the Got Milk? promotion uses these unique human qualities in order to connect with an audience and show them how milk can solve all of their problems and lay down the path to becoming socially normal. In this particular commercial, the family is trying to mask their uncommon qualities in order to conform to society’s notion that only nuclear families are successful and appropriate in society. Along with the families abnormality, milk is able to repair the strong willed mother into the proper female role of being the homemaker who is submissive and simple. After a slight dispute with her resistant children, the mother is able to convince her children to drink the milk and structure themselves into their designated places in life. According to the ideal family roles, children are supposed to be respectful of their parents and accept all wisdom and advice without hesitation; in other words the children should not have been debating and using scapegoats to avoid drinking the milk. Milk, as proposed by this advertisement, not only helps mask us into what our culture dictates us to be, but also allows us to even out the playing field that has been unfairly dealt to us. The family, though not quite within the desired scope of their roles, is made better than their neighbor because of milk’s assistance.
At close glance of this commercial, the family has left small clues to the personal characteristics that they are trying to mask. The meal being lovingly prepared by their mother and that which is placed on the plates only consists of mashed potatoes, broccoli and corn. Accepted norms of dinners typically contain meat as the main entrée, however there is absolutely no evidence of this central necessity for an accepted meal. Being vegetarian now-a-days has become more common, however few people robustly project themselves as active vegetarians because of how ostracized they still would be treated. Something that defines us and makes each person unique should be celebrated, but because of the context of our life we are urged to mask it with other actions. Just as people would not broadcast their being vegetarian, the commercial also conceals the family’s food choices. It is difficult to catch the evidence that they are a very health conscious family who partakes in an anti-meat lifestyle, but just as with people you can distinguish that there is something unique and special about this family. This façade of personal attributes, influenced by our daily culture, is causing American culture to become assimilated and uninteresting.
The family has another subtle aspect that places them in the minority category, this is not a nuclear family like what American culture dictates or expects. When looking at the dining room table, there are only three possible place settings (the side closest to the window does not have the room or the decorations to likely be another place setting). As it is dinner time and there is no father, it is safe to assume that either there is no paternal influence present in the children’s lives or that he is away significantly due to America’s never ending corporate obligations. The mother, however, does not appear to be a working class, single mom. She not only is able to prepare a nightly meal for the children, but she also conscientiously is trying to educate her children and keep them healthy. By acting as if she were a typical stay at home mom, she is masking her true hardships and role as a single parent to her two trying children.
Similar to Kathleen LeBesco’s experiences with Jell-O and the gender implications within their advertising, milk consumers are often driven to either conform or resist this dictating constraint on their lives. When it came to Jell-O, the advertisements were telling the women that it was their job to “make someone happy,” and that someone was always a superior male in their life (LeBesco 192). According to Jell-O advertisements women were to be the care takers who submitted themselves to the powerful men; they were to stay within the cultural context of their female role. Milk implies these same ideals to women, showing them that no matter the particulars of their life they are to fit within their sex determined category. Milk and Jell-O are promoted as healthy meal accompaniments, appealing to the female shoppers who are to care for their male counterparts and children. Advertisements for products like these are rarely marketed towards males, it is the female’s job to shop, cook, and care for everyone in the family.
The attributions discovered in the Got Milk? commercial are not mainstream or eagerly shown to the public eye; however occasionally they are expressed to test the waters often facing rejection. Feeling slightly insecure and down on ourselves, humans will try anything to make themselves equal to or better than their neighbors and community, the people who are judging and guiding them. At the end of this advertisement, milk is consumed in order to rid themselves of those disapproving characteristics that life has unfairly dealt them. Milk is something they can control in order to put their life on the track that has been dictated to them by their life standings. Milk is the mask they pull over themselves, appearing just as culture shaped society to desire.
Another example of milk and culture is seen in this milk commercial that targets corporate America and its indifferent attitudes towards living a masked lifestyle. The business man suggests the stereotypical crude man who is obnoxious and rude by pushing an elderly lady and demonstrating his authority by screaming into his mobile phone. Instantly, American culture is portrayed as accepting a fast past lifestyle, unaware of its repercussions from guilt and indifference. Ironically, the business man that appears to have power, does not look intimidating or domineering, but instead has a fairly small stature with a cocky attitude. The attitude of the man assumes an assigned role as a crude businessman. Since he may feel subjected into this position as a corporate leader, he embellishes his assigned position. Corporate America has enforced gender roles in the sense that it is a male dominant role. As seen in the previous ad, a woman is in the kitchen at home with the children and in this ad, a man walks down the business streets. He adores his place in society as a corporate, male leader, immune to the repercussions of his actions.
At this point, milk has not even been introduced as the focal point. Only when the man gets hit by a truck in his state of oblivion does he find himself in a world of white. A male, dying in the presence of a beautiful woman, enters “eternity.” The façade of a heavenly world encourages the man to believe he has done nothing wrong and has landed himself in heaven. Symbolism such as a dove flying and whiteness representing purity starkly contrast the hustle and bustle of any city street corner. Then the door shuts, enclosing the man in a room. This event mirrors a trapped culture that is content with living the corporate vignette, a painted life masked by greed and selfishness. When the door shuts, a hint of fear crosses the man’s face, but he soon returns to having the attitude of an arrogant character.
The first glance at the heavenly room targets cookies on a table with light shining on them. Coloring the room white not only masks this heavenly place, but induces a subliminal thirst after seeing the cookies. Additionally, the objects are quite odd. Music plays, but not from the piano, a clock with no hands demonstrates eternity, flowers, a fish, a cat, and a statue are all focused on in the commercial. However, milk becomes the one desirable product in this heaven. It is a common American practice to have milk and cookies, either as a late night snack with the kids, or it is seen when left out for Santa Claus during Christmas. Since thirst is induced, why not ask for water? There is obviously water in this place because the fish swims in it. Again, the white washed room and the cookies target a particular beverage to crave.
Ultimately, a refrigerator with dozens of generically labeled milk cartons captures the climax for that last stretch of heaven. A fictional lifestyle fabricated by the standards of a socialized America boils down to whether or not milk completes it. All the objects are idealized. For example, the cookies are gigantic, and the woman represents calmness and beauty; almost as if it is her duty to accompany the male through to the afterlife and provide a giant batch of sweets. However, the façade continues and the man reconsiders his location in heaven when he realizes the milk cartons are empty. The man is no longer an icon in the corporate world, nor a believer in the fallacy of his heaven, all attributed to the staple need for milk.
Interestingly, the advertising of the Got Milk? commercials follow this similar trend of masking the truth. While each of the ads display generically labeled milk cartons, the small print in these ads attributes the commercialization of milk to the California Milk Processor Board. Initially, the labeling appears to be a promotion by the government, to live healthier by drinking milk. However, the underlying goal of the ads is to sell more milk. It becomes increasingly clear that American culture accepts claims at face value. For instance, the American tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving is taught from a young age that the Pilgrims and Indians remained friendly and helpful to one another. Unfortunately, American culture avoids accepting that the tradition is a “myth” and the American rituals are based on symbolism unknown to today’s practices (Siskind 192). Whether the practices be false traditions, or a masked lifestyle, milk sells a culture that has become white washed and accepts claims at face value.
Continuing with the theme of making claims and accepting them at face value, this advertisement for milk is an example of a commercial making claims about the potential health benefits of milk, with very little specific evidence to substantiate these claims. The claim is that "A recent study has shown that calcium may reduce the symptoms of PMS." Although no women appear in the advert the stereotypical idea of what the symptoms of PMS are is portrayed through the actions of the men in the commercial. The idea that women are irritable and irrational when suffering from PMS leads the men to try anything in order to relieve these symptoms.
The advert begins with two men frantically grabbing milk from a supermarket shelf. It then goes on to show a man taking milk from a milk van. The claim about calcium helping to relieve the symptoms of PMS then appears on screen and the statement is read aloud by a male voice. The fact that the images of men grabbing the milk appears before the reasons behind the advertisement are revealed means that the audience is allowed to draw their own conclusions on what the commercial is about before the actual idea is stated. The advert uses a stereotypical generalization, that all women have PMS and that the symptoms of PMS affect their partners and husbands most. Although the commercial features only men, it is actually aimed at women. It is trying to persuade women that their symptoms of PMS affect the men in their lives in such a way that the men are willing to do anything in order to stop these symptoms and so by making the fremale audience feel guilty about their behavior the advertising company hopes to encourage them to buy more milk based on a vague statement about possible benefits. The idea portrayed in the commercial conforms to the image of patriarchal relationships whereby women are dominated by the men they share relationships with. The men in the advertisement do not actually explain their feeling’s about the women’s PMS symptoms, instead they choose to try and change things discreetly by increasing their partner’s calcium intake through milk without informing the women of what their intentions are. This gender specific stereotyping can be seen in the passage "Outdoor Hospitality: The Gentleman Plays With Fire' written by Harry Botsford, in it he says that ‘After all, outdoor cookery is a man’s job. A woman presiding over a barbecue grill looks as incongruous as a man engaged in doing a trifle of lacy tatting" (Botsford 3). This is an example of a cultural stereotype, that women cannot use a barbecue grill, which has no substantiating evidence to back it up. There is no reason why women cannot use a grill just as well as a man, it is a gender stereotype which makes women feel as if they are less entitled to use a grill. Similarly a gender stereotype dictates that the woman of the household must do all the cooking in the kitchen; "The lady who usually presides in the kitchen" (Botsford 2).
Another aspect of American culture which is evident in this commercial is the need to have everything instantaneously. The corporate America that exists today means people are used to having everything on demand. Whether it is food, coffee or internet access society is now accustomed with getting what they want, when they want. This is reflected by the actions of the men in this advertisement who obtain as much milk as they can so they do not have to wait to see results, they can get them immediately and so continue their fast paced lifestyle.
The claim that the commercial is promoting is that taking calcium may reduce the symptoms of PMS, however the way in which the advert portrays this claim makes it seem as if drinking more milk is the only way to achieve this increased intake of calcium. The advertising company is hoping that the American people, women in particular, will be unconcerned with the actual amount of calcium that is required and instead will just buy more milk. In reality, if you read the small print, it says, "Majority of women’s symptoms reduced after 3 months taking 1200mg Calcium/day." In order to have an intake of 1200mg calcium/day with milk as the sole source of calcium you would have to drink around 31 fluid ounces of 2% fat milk, based on the data provided by the IDFA website that 2% milk contains 298mg of calcium per cup (International Dairy Foods Association). Advertisements by the Got Milk? creators published in magazines, states that the recommended daily amount of milk that should be drunk is 24 fl Oz. Therefore, in order to achieve the 1200mg of calcium/day that was shown to have an effect on the symptoms of PMS, women would have to drink more than the recommend amount of milk every day.
The advertising company uses stereotypical ideas about gender and patriarchal relationships to appeal to women's sense of guilt and thereby sell more milk based on the vague concept of its beneficial properties without ever justifying its claims.
Through depictions of masked family units that lead to corporate America, along with patriarchal relationships, milk encompasses an American culture that is blanketed with fallacy. Milk becomes the determining factor of returning an unusual family back to normal by proving that milk is the only way to steer away from uncommon practices. Additionally, these nuclear family units reinforce corporate America by encouraging male dominance in the workplace, thus transforming business men into corporate chauvinists. Even milk proves to be the one missing element in a fabricated heaven. Finally, following premeditated gender roles, patriarchal relations leads to the guilt of women experiencing strong symptoms of PMS where only milk can solve men’s fear of their wives. Milk, something previously assumed as culturally insignificant, has become the cloudy substance which we can hide our true identities behind and portray ourselves as a part of the perfect American culture.
Works Cited
"Classic Got Milk? TV Spot - 'Aaron Burr' - Is Back On Air" <http://www.gotmailk.com/news/news_006.html>.
International Dairy Foods Association. IDFA represents the nation’s dairy manufacturing and marketing industries, and their suppliers.http://www.idfa.org/facts/milk/milkfact/milk6.pdf
LeBesco, Kathleen "Jell-o, Gender, and Social Class" from Cooking Lessons: The Politics of Gender and Food. New York. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2001.
Siskind, Janet. "The Invention of Thanksgiving: A Ritual of American Nationality."