A pat on the back for No 1 Moos paper

The Diary is pleased to put the record straight on a misleading story printed last week. We stated that Ben & Jerry’s ice cream had become the first national brand to advertise on cows.

The idea was in fact used 13 years ago, as pointed out by David Beadle, media development director at Arc Advertising’s the Media Factor.

The Media Factor employed the bovine sales device in its work for The Sun, which it described as “Your No 1 Moos Paper”.

Paul Booth, then an 18-year-old trainee planner buyer, cut his teeth in the media by wading through a field and draping cows with special jackets emblazoned with this slogan. Booth is now managing director of the Media Factor and says: “After that, I knew what people really meant when they said I was a man outstanding in my field.”

Diary apologises for this corny joke, and to any cows, mad or otherwise, that may have been offended.