Humanity has been leaving milk & cookies out for Santa since 1937.
No one asked him if he actually liked it.
Adweek’s Best Holiday Ads of 2024, Ad Age’s Best Holiday Ads of 2024
The Taste Test
Played in cinemas. So if you went to see Moana 2 with a child and had their entire holiday worldview shattered by this, that’s our bad.
Oatly’s totally normal very straightforward holiday Fireplace Billboard where absolutely nothing weird happens for three hours
Turns out, you CAN get a three hour media buy! When you get a bunch of :90 second slots back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back.
From 4-7pm around New York City, my parents’ fireplace was on full display as one of those peaceful holiday fireplace 4K videos with some picturesque and shameless product placement. And yes, maybe some chaos happens in the background every couple minutes. That’s life, man.
We also used the video to takeover Oatly’s homepage for the holidays, defy all best practices on TikTok, and give Mike and Heather Hogue clout for the rest of their entire lives.
Influencers
We partnered with influencers like skit writer @ghosthoney, pastry chef @al.chenny, and miniature artist @marinaminis to attack the internet with our new progressive, dairy-free update to milk & cookies.
We also did billboards and wildpostings
Sick of this campaign yet? No? Here are even more words about it!
Campaign US: Santa’s back and he’s never been cooler, thanks to Pepsi and Oatly
Performance Marketing World: JD Sports, Boots, Oatly, John Lewis, and Aldi: top 5 viral Christmas performance marketing campaigns
Adweek: Santas Reject Traditional Milk and Cookies in Oatly's Cheeky Holiday Ad
Ad Age: 11 creative campaigns to know about today
Marketing Dive: Oatly wants to update Santa’s Christmas Eve milk-and-cookies tradition
Campaign US: Oatly uses its powers of suggestion on unwitting Santas
The Drum: Ad of the Day: Santa ditches dairy in Oatly’s totally fair taste test
The Drum: Best Ads of the Week
MediaPost: Oatly Updates Santa Ritual—With a Twist
VegNews: Food News of the Week
Green Queen: Future Food Quick Bites: Beyond Smash, Santa Love Oatly & Vegfest Vietnam
BM Outdoor: Oatly Challenges Santa with Oat Milk Twist
Resumé: (This one’s in Swedish) Forget cookies and milk - Santa wants Oatly
Wharton’s Marketing Matters Podcast with Americus Reed
Fun Facts:
The professional Santas in the taste test videos are—yes—real life, full time Santas. Some have over 50 years of experience being Santa. They’re booked every single day from November 1st to early January. So we had to pay them more than their prior engagements so they’d call out sick.
We scouted over 20 locations around the NYC area to find the right balance of shitty. The DoubleTree in Fort Lee, New Jersey took the cake.
The caterers in the taste test video are also real life DoubleTree Fort Lee caterers that were cool with being in an ad for oatmilk.
Same with the tables. The laminate table for the milk & cookies was actually the best laminate table we could find there. We’re all for authenticity.
I’ll forever be chasing the high of getting my parents’ fireplace in Times Square.
Every piece of this campaign—the taste test, OOH/DOOH, yule log video, influencers, social videos—was completed in less than 6 weeks. And every single chaotic second of it was a blast. Shoutout to the powerhouse that is the Oatly Department of Mind Control, but specifically Celia Riley, Eric Routenberg, Malia Killings, Ana Ponce De Leon-Dios, Scott Mai, and Michael Lee.