Milking a Legend:  'La Llorona'
01/22/02 — The California Milk Advisory Board has just launched a cross-cultural version of its famous "Got Milk?" ad campaign based on the centuries-old Mexican legend, "La Llorona" ("The Weeping Woman"), the tale of a mother who kills her own children and herself after being spurned by her husband and whose spirit is condemned to wander the earth, sobbing, for all eternity. Some say the ghost story dates back to Aztec times.

In contemporary Hispanic folklore La Llorona has evolved into a bogeyman-like figure for children, whose parents or grandparents might warn when they've been naughty: "La llorona is coming to get you."  The new TV commercial portrays the ghostly character in a less malevolent light. We hear her quietly muttering "Leche" as she opens a refrigerator and peers inside, then she weeps when she finds no milk.

Not everyone thinks the concept is brilliant.

"I don't know if I'd buy milk from someone who was trying to kill me," said Gabriela Lemus of the League of United Latin American Citizens in Washington, D.C.

Will Californians?  Only time will tell.  Stay tuned.

More:
  • Milk Industry Uses Ghost to Sell Milk - Associated Press
  • La Llorona, a Hispanic Legend - Literacy Network
  • La Llorona - Study Resources - About.com
  • Myths Over Miami - Miami New Times