Michelin-starred chef Gordon Ramsay has become one of the faces of the first national milk promotion campaign in 16 years.
Ramsay and singer-songwriter Pixie Lott will sport milk moustaches in a bid to promote the dairy drink and reverse declining sales.
The £7.5m three-year Make Mine Milk promotion is led by the Milk Marketing Forum and will highlight low-fat versions of milk. It is the biggest campaign since the ‘Whole Lotta Bottle’ and ‘Accrington Stanley’ promotions of the 1980s.
Ramsay said: "There is a lot of love for milk in this country, but people often assume that it's only good for kids who need a bit of calcium. The truth is that milk, especially low-fat milk, is fantastically good for you."
The Food Standards Agency recommends the average adult should have 700g of calcium a day, which equates to two-and-a-half 250ml glasses of semi-skimmed milk, which has a fat content of 1.8% – or less, if the overall diet also includes cheese or other sources of calcium.
Although Britain has the third highest rate of milk consumption in Europe, drinking six billion litres every year, sales have been in decline, according to Dairy UK. In 1974, Britons drank 4.7 pints per head each week but by 2004 this had fallen to 3.7 pints.
The campaign hopes to emulate the success of Scotland’s White Stuff campaign, which boosted milk sales north of the border by 3.9% in the five years that it ran to 2009.
Other celebrities, yet to be announced, will appear in future posters.
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By Janie Stamford
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