“Wood Milk” is a humorous fictional film that uses wit and satire to connect with its audience — milk drinkers. The fake campaign was created for online video and extends into social media, an e-commerce website, and even OOH. It features comedian Aubrey Plaza, of HBO’s “White Lotus” fame, as a Co-Founder of a fake organization that squeezes trees into milk. Working with “Saturday Night Live” director and writers, we created a humorous SNL-style skit with a fictional product that made people question, “Is this actually real?”

In the United States, alternative milks (non-dairy substitutes) are legally allowed to call themselves “milk,” and the industry will find just about anything to milk. From oat to to almond to coconut, sunflower and even cockroach milk, you name it. Even if you prefer alternatives, it’s getting a little ridiculous. We noticed people talking about it online and decided to take advantage of it.

Our celebrity actress, Aubrey Plaza, introduces herself and the brand she co-founded, “Wood Milk.” She explains how it was the first and only milk made from wood and the idea behind the brand. With her deadpan humor, she walks the audience through how “Wood Milk” is made, including the different kinds of wood and its artisan process. The video ends with Plaza saying that this Milk is not real and only real milk is real, drawing attention back to the OG: Dairy Milk. In the final scene, Aubrey takes a swig of her gelatinous “Wood Milk,” which leaves a wood chip mustache on her face. Then she looks to the camera and asks the audience, “Got Wood?”

Milk has faced decades of decline and dwindling cultural relevance. With intense competition from a whole new category of alternatives claiming to be Milk, we needed to revitalize its cultural presence.

In the end, some loved it, some hated it, but what's undeniable is that a LOT of people talked about it. Our “Wood Milk” campaign went viral, making milk culturally relevant with a remarkable 60% increase in milk-related social mentions. The film garnered over 77 million views and achieved a paid performance of 805% above the industry benchmark. Over 18,000 people followed our fake brand in just one week, sparking an organic social movement dubbed #WoodMilkNation, generating thousands of memes and social conversations. Capital Press noted: “‘Wood Milk’ is blowing up social media, which is exactly what dairy milk companies hoped for.” The campaign amassed 2.6 billion earned impressions, leading to a historic 22% increase in cultural relevance among our target audience while also posing an important question: IS YOUR MILK REAL MILK?

“What’s next in your coffee? Salmon milk? Hot dog milk?” _ The Wall Street Journal

People will make milk out of anything these days: The alternative milk industry is manufacturing everything from hemp to microbe milk. And non-dairy milks are also getting more creative and competitive with their marketing. Following the FDA ruling, we noticed people online reacting to how ridiculous it was getting. So, we decided to challenge the alternative milks to put milk back into popular culture. Squeezing anything to make milk out of anything is funny and relatable, no matter what you drink. Dairy Milk’s not for everyone, but not everything is created equal, and there’s only one OG: real milk. This led us to create and launch a fictional alternative milk brand, “Wood Milk.” Why wood? Because there was nothing left to milk.