BROOMFIELD, Colo., March 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Silk® is issuing a challenge to consumers: Use Silk in place of typical milk for 10 days to experience great taste and nutrition with a lower environmental footprint. The "Silk for Milk 10-Day Challenge," which begins this month, includes print, TV, and digital advertising along with a mobile sampling tour.

The goal of this program is to help Silk fans find new ways to use Silk in place of typical dairy milk, and to encourage those who have never tried Silk to learn that replacing milk with Silk is an easy, nutritious and great tasting way to benefit from plant-based nutrition without sacrificing your favorite foods.

"Participating in the challenge will be a fun way for people to see that they can use Silk's plant-based milks in the same ways they would use typical dairy milk – whether that's pouring it on cereal, mixing it with other foods or drinking it straight from a glass," said Craig Shiesley, Vice President for Silk.  "The 10-day challenge is one of our biggest marketing campaigns to date because we realize more and more consumers are looking for plant-based alternatives to milk."

Why Silk for Milk? Great taste and excellent nutrition

By making a simple switch from milk to Silk, consumers maintain excellent sources of calcium and Vitamin D with zero cholesterol. Silk's products use the highest-quality plant-based, non-GMO ingredients, and there are numerous varieties to choose from, including:

• Silk Soymilk
  • Simply Silk – Includes Very Vanilla, Vanilla, Chocolate and Original flavors, all packed with heart healthy soy protein, and made with soybeans sourced in North America.
  • Silk Organic – Everything you love about Silk in a delicious, certified-organic option. Choose from Vanilla, Original and Unsweetened flavors.
  • Silk Light – Enjoy half the fat, fewer calories and delicious taste in Chocolate, Vanilla and Original flavors. Silk Light products are now sweetened with stevia, an all-natural sweetener with zero added calories.
• Silk Pure Almond – An excellent source of calcium, vitamin D and vitamin E – a natural antioxidant – each delicious flavor of Original, Vanilla, Dark Chocolate and Unsweetened contains 50 percent more calcium than milk and is naturally low in saturated fat and cholesterol-free.
• Silk Pure Coconut – The latest introduction to the Silk family, Pure Coconut is calcium-fortified, containing 50 percent more calcium than dairy milk, an excellent source of vitamin D and vegetarian-friendly vitamin B12. It's available in two delicious flavors, Original and Vanilla.

Kicking off the challenge straight from the dairy-loving Midwest

The campaign will kick off with a TV commercial featuring a family from Wisconsin – the heart of the dairy-loving Midwest – that is making the switch to Silk. The commercial, which will appear during primetime on major networks as well as cable networks that include Lifetime, Food Network, TNT and Discovery, will invite America to join the journey.

Print ads will run in high-circulation magazines such as Us Weekly, as well as in magazines geared to health- and nutrition-conscious consumers, including Shape, Fitness, Weight Watchers and Yoga Journal. Both the print and TV ads will direct consumers to the campaign's microsite, SwitchToSilk.com, to begin the challenge.

Digital component offers many ways to take up the challenge

The SwitchToSilk.com microsite will urge consumers to "Try Silk and say goodbye to milk" and will offer coupons to help them get started. The site will feature a 10-day plan with tips to make it easier for consumers to switch, including ideas and occasions for swapping milk with Silk. The site also will include information about the nutritional, taste and environmental benefits of using Silk's plant-based milks. Consumers can access SwitchToSilk.com from their mobile phones, as well as from the Silk Facebook fan page. Tweets sent via Twitter and YouTube videos also will direct people to the site.

Taking the challenge coast to coast

Silk will take its soy, almond and coconut milks directly to consumers with a three-legged 10-city sampling tour that covers the East Coast, West Coast and Midwest. The tour will run from March through May of this year in Boston, New York, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, Denver, San Antonio, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. The travel of the tour and associated Carbon emissions are being offset, with renewable Energy Certificates through Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF). In addition to sampling, the tour will include sponsorships and free coupons. Consumers will also be able to use on-site laptops to sign up for the 10-day challenge and learn more about Silk and Silk products, including the company's commitment to sustainability and finding ways new ways to minimize its impact on the environment.

ABOUT SILK

Silk was founded in 1996 on a promise to make the world a healthier place. We began by bringing soymilk mainstream, allowing more people everywhere to enjoy soy's wholesome, natural plant-based nutrition. We recently introduced almondmilk and coconutmilk as the next step in our proud tradition of good health and great taste. For more information, visit www.silksoymilk.com, www.silkpurealmond.com, www.silkpurecoconut.com, Facebook.com/SilkUS or follow us on Twitter @LoveMySilk.

SOURCE Silk