By Barry Janoff
March 18, 2015: Kevin Love, in his first season with the Cleveland Cavaliers and his first season as a teammate with LeBron James, has another first: A national multi-media campaign, Built With Chocolate Milk, from the National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board.
The theme of the campaign, "Reboundability," plays off the fact that Love, who spent six seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves before joining the Cavs, is one of the best rounders in the NBA, averaging more than 730 rebounds a year over the course of his career.
The effort breaks this week via TV, print , Internet and social media.
The multi-faceted Built With Chocolate Milk program is "designed to educate athletes and exercisers about the recovery benefits of low-fat chocolate milk after strenuous exercise."
The campaign unveils the secret to Love's rebounding skills, which he says started when his mom gave him chocolate milk following his basketball games as a kid.
The 30-second TV spot, "The Art of Rebounding," shot in black-and-white, sees Love going up against a basketball-shooting robot, which tests his rebounding skills by rapidly firing numerous shots. Spoiler alert: Love wins the competition by pulling down every rebound until the robot burns out.
According to Love, "One thing I've taken seriously over the years is how important recovery is after my training and games. Thanks to my mom, chocolate milk has been my go-to recovery drink since I was eight years old and it has continued to help me come back game after game."
The 6'10" Love, who was on the gold medal winning U.S. Men's Basketball Team during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, is the son of former NBA player Stan Love and the nephew of Mike Love and cousin of Brian Wilson, founding members of The Beach Boys.
In a spot for a different drink, "Double-Double" for ESPN's This is SportsCenter, Love's proficiency to average a double-double in points and rebounds is highlighted in a humorous way when it also is discovered that he makes the best double espressos.
Love joins a roster of chocolate milk endorsers that includes Olympic gold medal speed skater and Dancing with the Stars star Apolo Ohno, Ironman Triathlon Champions Mirinda Carfrae, Craig Alexander and Luke McKenzie.
"Kevin does what many other elite athletes have been doing for years — rebounds with chocolate milk," Miranda Abney, marketing director at the Milk Processor Education Program, which oversees the Built With Chocolate Milk campaign, said in a statement. "Breaking records and consistently being a game changer for his team, it's no surprise Love is one of the biggest names in the sport right now. In this campaign, exercisers everywhere can get a unique look into what he does on and off the court to get results."
In the spot, as we see him rebounding a barrage of shots taken by his robot rival, Love offers in voiceover, "The art of rebounding is assuming that every (shot) is a miss. Rebounds for my team and rebounds for my body. That's what I'm building with chocolate milk. It has nutrients to refuel, protein to rebuild. Backed by science." (See the full spot here.)
MilkPEP, Washington, D.C., is funded by the nation's milk processors.
Back to Home Page