Alternative milk brand Oatly is challenging ‘Big Milk’ over its spotty climate record by crashing the Dairy Foods Association lobbying event in the US capital Washington DC.
Cheekily dubbed the ‘Dairy Deprogramming Zone’, the Swedish firm’s activation looks to expose what it call the ‘devastating’ impact of animal agriculture on the environment.
Developed in partnership with experiential agency Factory 360, the day’s events have been captured in mock guerilla documentary style for all to see, with Oatly at pains to point out the £6.3 billion allegedly spent by ‘Big Milk’ on marketing initiatives in the past eight years designed to ‘fudge’ the true numbers on dairy farming’s ecological nefariousness.
“Our goal is to educate people on the major role that Big Dairy plays in our climate crisis. One of the easiest ways that Americans can lower their climate footprint is by eliminating meat and dairy from their diets, but many are unaware of this because of the narrative that the dairy industry has been pushing,” Oatly North America executive VP and ECD, Michael Lee said.
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“We took matters into our own hands and showed up at Capitol Hill unannounced with our Dairy Deprogramming Zone activation during one of their larger annual lobbying events.
He continued: “Many DCers were receptive to our presence, but we definitely made some folks uncomfortable on the dairy side. Moments like this and the response that we received from our Climate Footprint Challenge last year are worth it to us. All that we ask for is transparency, and we’re going to be loud until that happens.”
The campaign’s primary aim, besides provoking the big dairy players, is to encourage people to cut down on animal products, as this will likely be essential to the world hitting UN goals on reducing carbon emissions by 2030.
