| rdfs:comment | - In the United States during the mid-1980s, there was a practice of putting the faces of children who had gone missing (and were presumably kidnapped or abducted) on a milk carton, in an attempt to get neighbors of the person who had abducted the child to notice and report him or her. A Discredited Trope, if not a Dead Horse Trope. At this point, it has been parodied countless times and has entered the collective subconscious to the point that while people may not have actually seen an actual one in their lifetime, they still recognize it. In comedy, adults can make an appearance on the carton.
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| abstract | - In the United States during the mid-1980s, there was a practice of putting the faces of children who had gone missing (and were presumably kidnapped or abducted) on a milk carton, in an attempt to get neighbors of the person who had abducted the child to notice and report him or her. A Discredited Trope, if not a Dead Horse Trope. At this point, it has been parodied countless times and has entered the collective subconscious to the point that while people may not have actually seen an actual one in their lifetime, they still recognize it. In comedy, adults can make an appearance on the carton. The United States has since developed the Amber Alert system, so in many cases, within a few hours of an abduction, a report of a missing child can be broadcast or in some cases posted on Expressway notice signs. In some cases the announcement can be passed on to the public in mere minutes, which makes the several weeks notice it would take to get a photograph on a milk carton superfluous. They are supplemented by ADVO cards, which have an ad on the front and a picture of a missing child on the back, and are mailed regularly to homes. Many large stores also have a collection of "missing" posters displayed near the doors, where customers entering and exiting can see them. May also be used to Lampshade a character's disappearance or have part in a Mythology Gag, but is hardly ever played straight anymore unless it's a Period Piece. For the book titled The Face on the Milk Carton, click here. Examples of Face on a Milk Carton include:
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