“Wood Milk” is a humorous fictional film created for online video, social media, e-commerce, and digital and static outdoor billboards. It stars comedian Aubrey Plaza, of HBO’s “White Lotus” fame, as Co-Founder of an organization that makes milk out of trees. Working with “Saturday Night Live” directors and writers, we aimed to create genuine entertainment in SNL's unhinged, laugh-out-loud style. The result is a fictional product and brand that went viral.

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 rice to corn to spelt to peanut to coconut, sunflower, almond, 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.

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 dairy milk’s cultural presence.

The alternative milk industry will find anything to milk and market to consumers. We noticed people online reacting to how ridiculous it was getting. Non-dairy milks were also getting more creative and competitive with their marketing. We decided to challenge them head-on to put milk back into popular culture. The fact that the alternative milk industry will make milk out of just about anything is funny and relatable, no matter what you drink. Dairy Milk is not for everyone, but not everything is created equal, and there’s only one OG: real milk.

We wanted to create debate and put a simple question in everyone’s mind: Is Your Milk Real?

We made a fictional alternative milk called “Wood Milk” with a famous Co-Founder, Aubrey Plaza.

We launched this fictitious product on all the channels you’d expect from an authentic brand: social, out-of-home, and through press and influencer outreach. We built DrinkWoodMilk.com, a bespoke e-commerce site, providing visitors with more information on “Wood Milk” and our zero nutritional value message, allowing them to purchase eco-friendly branded T-shirts. We also planted 10,000 trees with a non-profit, One Tree Planted. This was the only part of our campaign that wasn’t a joke.

We treated “Wood Milk” like an authentic product and brand launch. In the style of a health-and-wellness, direct-to-consumer start-up, we launched in paid social, out-of-home, through press and influencer outreach and created a bespoke e-commerce site. Alongside our director, Hannah Levy, and writer, Neil Casey, Aubrey also had a direct hand in the script and jokes. Aubrey’s a giant talent — she also put her improvisational skills to work, creating unhinged comedic moments like “tree humping” that we couldn’t have imagined. This campaign was crafted with an entertainment mindset, using a writer’s-room-style creative approach.

Our multi-channel campaign launched on April 19, focusing on mass awareness partners with national coverage, including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Google search. We ran high-impact OOH placements in major metropolitan cities, including New York City and Los Angeles. Paid digital support concluded on April 30, and traditional OOH ended on May 7.

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 were hoping for.” The campaign amassed 2.6 billion earned impressions, leading to a historic 22% increase in cultural relevance among our target audience while posing an important question: IS YOUR MILK REAL MILK?

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