Got PMS? Get milk, says bold new ad campaign

(CBS/AP) Is your wife moody and irritable because of "that time of the month"? Give her a tall glass of milk.

That's what a new campaign from the folks behind the popular "Got milk?" ads suggests. The California Milk Processor Board's "Everything I Do Is Wrong" campaign launched this week, encouraging men to buy more milk for their wives and girlfriends who suffer from premenstrual syndrome.

PICTURES: Got PMS? Get milk - 7 bold new ads

Billboard ads will appear throughout California showing confused men holding cartons of milk accompanied by tag lines such as "I'm sorry I listened to what you said and NOT what you meant," or "I apologize for not reading between the RIGHT lines."

And that's not all. There will be radio, television, and internet ads, in addition to a new website that has a color-coded "current global PMS level," a "video apology enhancer" and a "mistake verification system" wrapped around pictures of puzzled men.

Suffice it to say, the ads have drawn criticism for its angle that the real PMS sufferers are men, who have to deal with women's strange behavior every month.

"None of the humor is aimed at women," says the board's executive director, Steve James. "The humor is aimed at how clueless men are in dealing with emotional situations. All of the humor is built around men's cluelessness."

But the question remains - does milk really help fend off PMS symptoms?

The dairy group says its campaign is based on studies that found a link between calcium intake and fewer PMS symptoms. It cites a 2005 Archives of Internal Medicine study that found calcium improved PMS symptoms in more than 1,000 women.

The board also refers to a 1999 study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition that found calcium could relieve PMS symptoms like anxiety, depression, irritability, headaches and cramps.

But not every doctor is convinced. "I'm not familiar with research supporting that relationship at this time," said Dr. Sheri Zidenberg-Cherr, chairwoman of the University of California, Davis department of nutrition.

The board has had success in highlighting the link between calcium and PMS before. That included a 30-second TV ad in 2005 called "Milk to the Rescue," which featured men stocking up on gallons of milk.

What does the controversial new ad campaign look like? Click here to find out.