Valio’s milk film starring Lemmy Kilmister wins Campaign of the Year at Effie Awards Finland

Starring the rock legend Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, milk film by Valio, a Finnish dairy pioneer, has won the Campaign of the Year award at the Effie Awards Finland, a competition honouring the most effective marketing communications ideas. The video was shared through social and editorial media reaching more than 33 countries around the world and it was seen by over 87 million viewers, which is an exceptional figure considering that no money was spent on its distribution.

Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, the legendary frontman of the heavy metal band Motörhead, and Valio shot the milk commercial for international distribution during Motörhead’s visit to Finland in December 2015. Sadly, Lemmy passed shortly after the shoot.

“When we heard the sad news, we thought long and hard whether to release the film at all. When Motörhead’s other members urged us to share our memories of Lemmy, it became clear that we should share our time with Lemmy with the whole world – but with a different angle than the one originally planned. This was the right decision. In the end, the film never became a commercial, but a unique tribute. However, we are naturally delighted for receiving this award,” says Hanna Savolainen, Business Manager at Valio.

“Filming with Lemmy was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I expected to meet a cosmopolitan, egotistical rock star, but instead he turned out to be a genuine, warm and considerate person. I think he was an ‘old-school’ rock star.”

Effie Awards Finland is a competition measuring the effectiveness of marketing communications, organised by the Finnish Association of Marketing, Technology and Creativity (MTL) as the Effie Awards partner in Finland. The Campaign of the Year receives the Grand Effie award.

Valio’s milk advert was also successful at the international Golden Drum marketing communications competition in 2016, winning the Grand Prix for films.

The milk advert starring Lemmy Kilmister is a retake on the 1990s hit commercial on Finnish television I don’t drink milk for the Dairy Nutrition Council and Finnish Dairy Association in 1997. The new version of the film was produced for Valio by advertising agency hasan & partners.

You can watch the milk film starring Lemmy Kilmister here:

The original version:

Further information:

Hanna Savolainen, Business Manager, Valio Oy, tel. +358 50 398 1153, hanna.savolainen@valio.fi, Twitter @hannasavolaine

Kaisa Tikkanen
Communications Manager
kaisa.tikkanen@valio.fi

Valio from Finland – the most innovative dairy in the world

Valio, offering the taste of Nordic nature since 1905, is the biggest dairy business and a brand leader in Finland as well as being a major player in the international dairy ingredients market. The company is owned by dairy cooperatives comprising some 6,000 dairy farmers. Valio holds wellbeing close at heart with world leading technology innovations, expertise and products made from clean Finnish milk. Valio’s product development follows in the footsteps of Nobel Prize winner A. I. Virtanen. Valio is Finland’s biggest food exporter and is seeking strong growth in international markets. Valio exports to some 60 countries and accounts for 30% of Finland’s total food exports. The company has subsidiaries in Russia, Sweden, Denmark, the Baltics, USA and China.