It only took us 40 seconds (or less) to get accused of ageism, insensitivity to alcoholism and being anti-farmer. Record time!

Oatly advertisements are sort of like abstract art. Not because they’re made by people who failed out of art school and had to go into advertising--which is true for half of us--but because everyone interprets them a bit differently.

For example, we ran a UK ad campaign called “Help Dad”. The commercials played on familiar father-teenager interactions, but flipped the scenarios to be about teens convincing dads to go plant-based.

Some thought these adverts were hilarious and an effective way to start a conversation about our current reliance on dairy. 

But then there were the others…the ones who reached out to the advertising watchdog ASA, and apparently filed over 140 complaints. If we’re being honest, we’re not sure if 140 is a lot (or accurate), but it’s three digits, so it feels kinda big.

Some of the complaints said the ads were ageist. Some thought they were insensitive to alcoholism. Some didn’t like the way we talked about the environmental impact of cow’s milk. And a handful thought they were all of the above (minus the hilarious part), which is a pretty impressive feat for a 30-second commercial. 

Take a look for yourself, and if you feel so inclined, don’t hesitate to send more hate mail directly to our Chief Creative Officer here.