Chocolate Milk Wants to Be Your Post-Workout Drink

Will we soon see football teams pouring chocolate milk over their coaches in lieu of Gatorade after winning a game?

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For the first time in 17 years, the Milk Processor Education Program (MPEP) is going to abandon its signature mustache in its latest chocolate-milk ads, USA Today reports.

Things are rough for chocolate milk right now: many school districts across the country—including Berkeley, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.—have stopped selling the drink in an effort to encourage more nutritious meals and lifestyle habits.

(READ: No More Nesquik: L.A. School District Bans Chocolate Milk)

So if children won’t drink the sugary chocolate milk, who will? Athletes, dairy groups are hoping. A study from three universities, published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, found that those who drank fat-free chocolate milk after a hard run were able to run 23% longer than those who drank sports drinks.

Starting next week, the MPEP will be running new ads, featuring the tag line “My After.” The campaign will feature athletes like the NBA’s Carmelo Anthony and Olympic swimmer Dara Torres, with testimonies about how the flavored milk helps them refuel after tough workouts.

The debate over its benefits are split—while some fitness experts claim it helps muscles recover after a tough workout, other nutrition professors and specialists say that it’s never a good idea to drink sugary calories over good old water and a healthy snack.

There’s no doubt that chocolate milk is delicious, but is marketing it as a sports recovery drink too much of a stretch?

MORE: Got PMS? Milk Marketers Launch an Audacious, Funny New Ad Campaign

For the first time in 17 years, the Milk Processor Education Program (MPEP) is going to abandon its signature mustache in its latest chocolate-milk ads, USA Today reports.

Things are rough for chocolate milk right now: many school districts across the country—including Berkeley, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.—have stopped selling the drink in an effort to encourage more nutritious meals and lifestyle habits.

(READ: No More Nesquik: L.A. School District Bans Chocolate Milk)

So if children won’t drink the sugary chocolate milk, who will? Athletes, dairy groups are hoping. A study from three universities, published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, found that those who drank fat-free chocolate milk after a hard run were able to run 23% longer than those who drank sports drinks.

Starting next week, the MPEP will be running new ads, featuring the tag line “My After.” The campaign will feature athletes like the NBA’s Carmelo Anthony and Olympic swimmer Dara Torres, with testimonies about how the flavored milk helps them refuel after tough workouts.

The debate over its benefits are split—while some fitness experts claim it helps muscles recover after a tough workout, other nutrition professors and specialists say that it’s never a good idea to drink sugary calories over good old water and a healthy snack.

There’s no doubt that chocolate milk is delicious, but is marketing it as a sports recovery drink too much of a stretch?

MORE: Got PMS? Milk Marketers Launch an Audacious, Funny New Ad Campaign