Lowfat Lucy

The Lowfat Lucy cartoon cow character is the center of a campaign designed to encourage low-income, Latino elementary school children to drink low-fat white milk. The intervention includes school-wide assemblies that present information about heart health, the benefits of drinking low-fat milk, interactive games, and a presentation by Lowfat Lucy. The program features social marketing techniques such as product positioning, taste tests, advertising, incentives, a slogan, persuasion through entertainment, and celebrity endorsement – in this case, Lowfat Lucy. Posters and cardboard cutouts of Lowfat Lucy holding a carton of 1% milk appear around the school, and students who participate in contests can win t-shirts, pencils, and magnets with the “If you’re over two, low-fat milk is for you” slogan. Presentations are also made at parent association meetings to encourage parents to choose low-fat milk at home.

The goal of the Lowfat Lucy program is to encourage children to drink low-fat white milk.

Over 4,000 students have received Lowfat Lucy programming, and nearly 1,700 have participated in contests associated with the intervention. Following the program, low-fat milk consumption increased significantly from 25% to 57% in intervention schools, but remained constant at 28% in control schools. Differences between intervention and control schools remained significant at 4-month follow-up.