Over the past few months I've been dedicating a small part of each work week to burying my head in my hands and racking my brain trying to recall the name of a milk drink that I remember fondly from my childhood in the 1980's. I knew it was released during the the same era as and I knew that it was flavoured milk that came in a Tetra Pak (a juicebox with a plastic straw attached) but nobody I asked about it seemed to remembered it. Then, while looking through Darren Barefoot's blog I came across a he had started in 2005 regarding a certain milk beverage from the 80's... and I practically fell down with nostalgia when the name became clear: Dr. Oh!
Unfortunately, even though I was now armed with the name of this sweet milk product that in my world previously only existed in my memory, the internet is absolutely bare of any mention of it aside from Darren's blog and a couple other comments elsewhere. It was then that I called upon the resources that Rhiannon and Jessica do for our series: actual research done by phone, email and in physical archives.
I called the BC Dairy Foundation and the BC Milk Producers Association, I called and emailed existing dairy producers and tweeted requests for anybody who remembered about the product to give me a shout. The most fruitful (or, I should say, milkful) of my research came when I visited the main branch of the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Public Library. With help from a couple of librarians I managed to track down an old food journal called Food In Canada, specifically their September 1982 edition that had a story about the launch of the elusive Dr. Oh along with photographs, and it all came flooding back.
Here are some images of Dr. Oh from a Tetra Brik ad in the same issue as the feature:
And the entire feature concerning the launch of Dr. Oh, published in Food In Canada in 1982, is below. I am still researching this story as I have all of the information about the launch, but none about the demise of this Western Canadian piece of 1980's nostalgia. Stay tuned! And if you have a ny memories of Dr Oh, please share them with us in the comments!
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN FOOD IN CANADA MAGAZINE IN THEIR SEPTEMBER 1982 ISSUE. NO AUTHOR OR PHOTO CREDIT WAS PROVIDED.
DR. OH
Milk drinks challenge the Western pop market
"For many years the dairy industry has had deepening concern about the growing sales of soft drinks and the accompanying feeble expansion or declining market for milk. The public has responded to the powerful national promotions of many brands and flavors of pop. As a result, they have been increasingly favored as refreshing beverages over milk.
Now five dairies in western Canada have done something about this situation. They have introduced a series of chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and banana flavored milk drinks under the under the name of Dr. Oh. They are marketing them cooperatively in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan to directly compete with soft drinks.
The products are all packaged aseptically in Tetra Brik UHT 250 ml packages with straw attached. Since they stay fresh for three months without refrigeration, they can be sold off unrefrigerated shelves beside cans or bottles of conventional soft drinks. However, they differ from them in that they can provide larger sales per running foot of shelf. This is because they can be packed tightly together and completely fill the space available. Since they are rectangular in shape, they have none of the wasted space that occurs unavoidably between bottles and cans.
The launch of a product with such an ambitious objective is a significant dairy industry development. Unlike most other food products, milk can't be marketed by one company across Canada or even across provincial boundaries. Provincial milk marketing authorities have full control of milk within their own borders and neither import nor export it to other provinces. Thus the sales potential of any milk product is restricted to the size of the market within the province in which it is produced.
With Dr. Oh, five dairies in three western provinces have undertaken to advertise it cooperatively. But only one dairy actually packages it in each province. This dairy supplies its competitors and all accept the advantages that come from their collective promotional efforts.
In British Columbia the dairy involved is Fraser Valley Milk Producers Association. It produces Dr. Oh for its own market as well as for that of Palm Dairies Limited of Vancouver. In Alberta, Palm Dairies Limited produces for its own market and for that of the Northern Alberta Dairy Pool and the Central Alberta Daily Pool. In Saskatchewan, the Dairy Producers Cooperative Ltd. produces for itself and Palm Dairies Limited.
Introductory preparations
Dr. Oh was chosen from among hundreds of names that were considered for these new milk products. It was accepted because the "dr." appellation associates the beverage with Dr. Pepper's success. Further, it scored well in research within all age brackets.
The name is the focal point of the package design which is bright and simple. This is essential since eye appeal is very necessary in the highly competitive market involved. There's a different contrasting color for each flavor; light blue for vanilla, pink for strawberry, brown for chocolate and yellow for banana.
Before the official 1982 launch, Dr. Oh was test marketed all across British Columbia and around Edmonton in Alberta. Its high level of acceptance led to heavy financial commitments by all the companies involved. These were necessary for this year's powerful advertising and promotion campaigns.
"This is a UHT program aimed at the growing market that is influenced by mothers and older teens with disposable income," say George Hrennikoff, manager marketing services of Fraser Valley Milk Producers Association.
"We are downplaying the fact that Dr.Oh is milk.
"The design characteristics of Tetra Briks makes them natural competitors for soft drink packages," Hrennikoff observes.
The cooperating dairies observe that they can be merchandised in mass displays at ends-of-aisles, in the front of stores or at check-out counters for maximum impulse buying appeal. Further, the easy-to-drink convenience of the attached plastic straw gives them an edge over cans or bottles. The straw acts as the opener when it is inserted into the package through a foil and plastic covered circular opening in the top
Advertising and promotion
The combined advertising expenditure for Dr. Oh is quite substantial. "It's the biggest advertising budget in the history of our company," says Gunnar Pedersen, general manager of Dairy Producers' Co-Operative Limited in Regina. In addition, almost a quarter of a million dollars will be spent by Palm Dairies Limited in Alberta, according to president Jack James.
West Can Communications in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»is handling the advertising for Fraser Valley. It is highlighting fun as a mainstream strategy and this is reinforced by the variety of flavours being produced. Superior nutritional value is the message directed at mothers.
With an advertising theme, "Dr. Oh, the Drink to Know" west coast promotions are capitalizing on sports enthusiasm with a Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»White Caps tie-in. Players have visited elementary schools in the greater Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»area, reaching over 20,000 children. After a show about sports awareness, children were given free decals, free Dr. Oh and discounts to attend White Caps games. Brand awareness was further heightened by giving away T-shirts featuring the Dr. Oh theme.
Dome Advertising of Regina is following a similar approach in Saskatchewan with the theme, "Just What the Dr. Ordered." The agency is targeting its strategy around youth and physical fitness with teens enjoying racquetball, jogging, baseball and biking. Present sponsorship of the Roughrider football games by the Co-operative is providing additional marketing opportunities this summer.
The Dairy Producers Co-operative Limited is also setting up booths at summer fairs in Saskatchewan. These are visited regularly by a quarter of the population. A sampling program is also being seriously considered.
Alvin Johnston of Central Alberta Dairy Pool is optimistic that the combined marketing effort will bring good results. George Hrennikoff shares the enthusiasm and backs up his opinion by the success Fraser Valley has enjoyed with its Super Socco which is also aseptically packed in 250 ml Tetra Briks.
He points out that Super Socco is now a number one fruit drink with 15% of the market. Je says this gives some idea of the big potential for Dr. Oh.
The five dairies are aiming high. Sales of ten million units are projected for B.C. and Alberta. The first-quarter sales of Fraser Valley indicated they were right on target.
Jack James, president of Palm Dairies Limited says, "Canada has a surplus of Class 1 milk. We need to sell more and I don't know any better way of doing it than capturing a slice of the pop business."
With this kind of commitment, Dr. Oh is certainly the drink for grocers to know."
