Back in 2019, Domino’s Japan released what they called the “New Yorker”-style pizza — a limited-time item was a regular pizza topped with a kilogram, or around 2.2 pounds, of cheese.

You might be thinking, “a kilo of cheese on pizza? I thought about half of all Japanese people are lactose intolerant — why would they want so much cheese?”

Well, maybe they don’t. In fact, maybe the whole thing was part of a marketing effort on behalf of the American dairy industry. Actually, it’s not a “maybe” — this was a proven American dairy propaganda effort.

On social media, you might have noticed a rise in global cheese-related content: burgers dripping with cheese, emphasis on cheese-pulls, and other videos that make cheese look as delectable as possible. Dairy Management Inc. is an organization that is at least partially to blame for that.

The organization, which is funded by dairy producers, alongside its affiliated export-marketing efforts, have been behind some of the biggest cheese stunts in recent memory, especially internationally. You know those videos of cheese being poured over food? That’s what they call the “Cheese Overflow strategy,” which they say they marketed to international pizza chains.

They’ve also been behind efforts to create a pizza version of Taco Tuesday called “Huttoe Day,” with an emphasis on cheese.

Why are they doing this? Well, for a long time now, U.S. dairy producers have been dramatically overproducing cheese for the domestic market. They’re not just going to stop making cheese, of course, so there are two options: stockpile it (which we already do — the U.S. has more than a billion pounds of cheese stockpiled) or find a way to get people abroad to buy it.

So, if you see a super cheesy dish at some fancy restaurant abroad, it could be a local chef trying out a new dish — or you could be subjecting yourself to American dairy industry propaganda. Hey, as a cheese lover, I’ll have it either way.