While this was an integrated campaign, the outdoor element was the centerpiece. If you’re going to make a statement in opposition to an entrenched behemoth like the dairy industry, you might as well do it in the most visible and public medium. Outdoor also lent itself especially well to the format of the campaign – contrasting our commitment to transparency vs the opacity of Big Dairy’s climate footprints, literally side by side. Very few mediums would enable that as well as outdoor did.

The global food system is responsible for around 1/3 of greenhouse gas emissions. Turns out our food choices can have a significant impact on the climate. Never has it been more critical to call attention to this threat than during the hottest year on record, at a time when our political and regulatory systems and consumer behavior still largely favor dairy over the more planet-friendly plant-based milk alternatives. That threat, and those habits, have more recently been fueled by misinformation campaigns – many of which are funded and directed by Big Dairy – attempting to weaponize social media to confuse consumers and undermine the plant-based movement toward more sustainable choices.

That’s why Oatly was one of the first food companies that decided to print its climate footprint on our packaging.

But is 0.47kg of CO2e good? We think so, but it’s hard for consumers to know without having something to compare it to. Something like, say, the climate footprint of regular old cow’s milk.

The problem is the Dairy industry hasn’t been so forthcoming with their numbers. How could we encourage them to share?

Our objective was to advocate for Big Dairy to match Oatly’s commitment to transparency of our respective climate footprints. To provocatively call the industry to action on behalf of consumers who deserve to know how their choices impact the planet.

Hence we launched “The Dairy Deal” - a series of outdoor ads offering free premium ad space to any dairy company willing to show consumers their climate footprints. That’s right – advertising that advertised free advertising!

In billboards that spanned major cities in the US and UK, we bought adjacent units in high-traffic areas like Times Square. On one side we announced Oatly’s climate footprint labels. On the other, we called the Dairy industry to action. A QR code linked to a website where Dairy executive types could submit their application. Upon vetting their credentials, Oatly would foot the bill for future ads to proudly showcase our dairy frenemies’ numbers.

Guess how many dairy companies took us up on it? None! Maybe they just missed it? Not likely. As they say in advertising awards submissions – people took notice!

The campaign garnered over 450 million earned impressions in major publications like Bloomberg Business, Fast Company, and several others.

In response, the British government reached out to invite us to join the food data transparency partnership, a task force thats advises the government on climate labeling. And shortly after the campaign, Oatly was ranked as the most sustainable food and drink brand by UK consumers.

So while it turns out this was an offer that Big Dairy could refuse, it ultimately achieved its one most important KPI – advocating for greater transparency around the food choices we make everyday.

Oatly’s purpose is to help people eat better and live better lives without recklessly taxing the planet’s resources. We do that not just by making great tasting oatmilk that is more sustainable than the incumbent cow’s milk, but by taking bold, industry-leading action to upend norms and educate consumers on the impact of their food choices on the planet.

One such action was to begin printing our own climate footprint on all of our product’s packages. But we soon realized that information is only valuable to consumers if they have something to compare it to. Hence this campaign – and the open challenge to Big Dairy to share their own numbers – was born.