Originally published March 2025. Last updated October 7, 2026.
Oatly's digital PR strategy turns an unpolished brand voice and its own public controversies into earned attention. The company aired a low-budget Super Bowl ad in February 2021, answered a backlash over a Blackstone-led investment with an open letter, and listed on Nasdaq in May 2021 at 17 dollars a share. In February 2026, Oatly reported its first full year of profitability on an adjusted EBITDA basis.
What is Oatly's digital PR strategy?
Oatly's digital PR strategy is to say the awkward thing first and let audiences react. The brand uses a self-mocking voice, accepts criticism in public and treats controversy as material for the next story. The approach works for a challenger brand in a category that larger dairy companies have long dominated.
The strategy has three observable parts: a memorable ad built to be talked about, a public response to a reputation crisis and a business result that can be checked against company filings. The sections below take each part in turn, using reporting from CNN Business as republished by KION, AgFunder News and InvestorPlace, and Oatly's own fourth quarter and full year 2025 results release.
How did the "Wow, No Cow" ad work as a PR asset?
The "Wow, No Cow" ad worked as a PR asset because it gave viewers something to mock and share. Oatly aired it during Super Bowl LV in February 2021. The low-budget commercial showed CEO Toni Petersson playing a keyboard and singing a repetitive song in an oat field, according to the CNN Business reporting.
Oatly then gave away t-shirts that read "I totally hated that Oatly commercial," CNN reported. The shirts turned viewer mockery into a brand product. The brand did not defend the ad against critics. It sold them a souvenir.
Was the ad new in 2021?
The ad was not new in 2021. According to Wikipedia's summary of the company's history, the commercial first aired in Sweden in 2014 and was pulled after the dairy group LRF Mjölk sued Oatly over the phrase "Milk, but made for humans." Treat that account as secondary reporting until it is confirmed against court or company records. If accurate, the Super Bowl placement gave a once-banned piece of content a far larger audience.
What does the ad teach about earned attention?
The ad teaches that attention can come from a choice that looks like a mistake. A polished spot would have blended into the other Super Bowl advertising. A rough one gave viewers and reporters a reason to talk about it, and the t-shirt giveaway gave them a way to join in.
What happened when Oatly took Blackstone's money?
Oatly faced a backlash in 2020 after taking an investment led by Blackstone, and it responded with an open letter. In July 2020, Oatly raised 200 million dollars in a round led by Blackstone Growth, according to AgFunder News. CNN reported that the group also included Oprah Winfrey, Natalie Portman, Jay-Z's Roc Nation and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, and that the round represented a 10 percent share of the company.
Critics objected because Blackstone holds stakes in infrastructure companies that have been accused of contributing to deforestation in the Amazon basin. AgFunder reported that Blackstone had denied the accusation. For a brand built on environmental credentials, the investor became a reputation problem.
How did Oatly respond?
Oatly responded with an open letter that argued for the investment. According to AgFunder, the company said that if it could convince Blackstone that sustainability investments are profitable, other private equity firms might move their money toward green investments. The letter named the 4 trillion dollars in collective private equity capital as the prize.
The response did not retract the deal. It explained the reasoning and invited readers to judge it. That choice fits the brand's pattern of accepting criticism in public.
Did the response work?
The evidence is mixed and cannot prove cause. Oatly listed on Nasdaq under the ticker OTLY on May 20, 2021, about ten months after the Blackstone round. InvestorPlace reported that the shares priced at 17 dollars and first traded at 22.12 dollars. InvestorPlace also reported that Blackstone reportedly owned more than 6 percent of Oatly at the time of the listing.
Those facts show that the backlash did not stop the listing. They do not show that the open letter changed customer behavior, because no source here measures that.
What did the numbers look like at the IPO?
At the IPO, Oatly was growing quickly and losing money. InvestorPlace reported 2020 sales of 421.4 million dollars and a 2020 loss of 60.4 million dollars. CEO Toni Petersson said in a post-trade interview that Oatly planned three more production plants by the end of 2021, expanding operations to North America and Asia.
The story the brand told, an upstart that was saving the planet, depended on that growth. The same story left less room for a slowdown.
What do Oatly's recent results show?
Oatly's recent results show a business that is now profitable on an adjusted basis and growing slowly. In its February 11, 2026 release, Oatly reported fourth-quarter 2025 revenue of 233.8 million dollars, up 9.1 percent from 214.3 million dollars a year earlier. Constant currency growth was 4.3 percent.
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 full-year sales | 421.4 million dollars | InvestorPlace |
| 2020 full-year loss | 60.4 million dollars | InvestorPlace |
| Q4 2025 revenue | 233.8 million dollars | Oatly release, Feb. 11, 2026 |
| Q4 2025 adjusted EBITDA | 11.0 million dollars | Oatly release, Feb. 11, 2026 |
| Q4 2024 adjusted EBITDA | loss of 6.1 million dollars | Oatly release, Feb. 11, 2026 |
| 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance | 25 to 35 million dollars | Oatly release, Feb. 11, 2026 |
| 2026 constant currency revenue guidance | 3% to 5% growth | Oatly release, Feb. 11, 2026 |
One quarter of 2025 revenue now exceeds half of the company's entire 2020 sales. The company also moved from an adjusted EBITDA loss of 6.1 million dollars in the fourth quarter of 2024 to a profit of 11.0 million dollars a year later. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure, so it excludes costs that appear in net results.
The release quotes CEO Jean-Christophe Flatin, not Toni Petersson. He described the first full year of profitability as a milestone and not a destination, according to the release.
What is the timeline of Oatly's PR moments?
Oatly's PR moments run from a 2020 investment round to a 2026 profitability milestone. The sequence below uses the dates reported by AgFunder News, CNN Business, InvestorPlace and Oatly's own release.
- July 2020: Oatly raises 200 million dollars in a round led by Blackstone Growth, and criticism of the investor follows.
- February 2021: the "Wow, No Cow" ad airs during Super Bowl LV, and Oatly gives away t-shirts mocking it.
- May 20, 2021: Oatly lists on Nasdaq under OTLY, priced at 17 dollars and first trading at 22.12 dollars.
- February 11, 2026: Oatly reports fourth-quarter 2025 revenue of 233.8 million dollars and its first full year of adjusted EBITDA profitability.
The gap between the third and fourth entries is nearly five years. A reader who judges Oatly only by the listing-day coverage misses the work that followed.
How does Oatly compare with Nike and Starbucks?
Oatly differs from Nike and Starbucks in what carries the story. Oatly relies on a brand voice and on public controversy. Nike relies on named athletes and launch moments, as the Nike digital PR case study describes. Starbucks relies on a recurring loop of seasonal drinks and loyalty data, as the Starbucks digital PR case study describes.
The three models also differ in what can be measured. Starbucks publishes quarterly membership and spending figures. Nike's campaign results come mostly from third-party data such as Edison Trends. Oatly's results come from company filings, and none of them isolates the effect of a campaign. A brand choosing among the three approaches should decide first which numbers it can actually collect. The definition, costs and benchmarks behind all three are in what is digital PR.
What is the risk of a voice-led PR strategy?
The risk of a voice-led PR strategy is that the voice depends on the people who built it. The Super Bowl ad starred Toni Petersson, and the early brand story was closely tied to him. Oatly's 2026 earnings release quotes a different CEO. A brand that relies on a personal, irreverent voice has to decide how that voice survives a leadership change.
The second risk is that controversy needs a response each time. Oatly answered the Blackstone criticism in public and still carried that history into its listing. A brand that invites debate must be ready to keep answering it.
How should a challenger brand measure a voice-led campaign?
A challenger brand should measure a voice-led campaign with a small set of numbers it controls, because the public financial figures cannot isolate the effect of a single ad or letter. Choose the measures before the campaign launches and record a baseline for 30 days.
| Measure | What it shows | How to track it |
|---|---|---|
| Branded search volume | Whether the campaign made people look for the brand | Search analytics before and after the launch |
| Earned coverage by outlet type | Whether reporters picked up the story | Log each placement with date and link |
| Sentiment in comments and reviews | Whether the voice is welcomed or mocked | Social listening, with a human read of a weekly sample |
| Retail velocity and trial | Whether attention turns into purchase | Retailer and point-of-sale data by region |
| Share of AI answers naming the brand | Whether category questions surface the brand | Fixed prompts, as in AI brand monitoring |
Pair the numbers with a rule for when to stop. If sentiment turns against the voice for two weeks, pause the campaign and review the message, since an irreverent tone that is read as careless costs more than it earns.
What are the limits of this analysis?
The limits are that none of these sources measures the effect of the PR itself. The financial figures describe the business, not the campaigns. A reader cannot tell from this data how many customers came because of the Super Bowl ad or stayed through the Blackstone backlash.
The ad's 2014 history rests on a single secondary source, and the 10 percent stake figure comes from a company spokesperson quoted by CNN. Treat both as reported claims.
What can other brands copy from Oatly?
Other brands can copy four practices from Oatly, and each one is tied to the evidence above.
- Turn criticism into a product. The "I totally hated that Oatly commercial" t-shirts gave critics something to wear.
- Explain a controversial decision in writing. The open letter on the Blackstone round stated the reasoning for readers to judge.
- Keep a public record you can check. Oatly's filings let outsiders compare the story with the numbers.
- Plan for the voice to outlast one person. Document the tone, the red lines and the response process before a leadership change.
Where can CPG and beverage brands find PR support?
5W runs a food and beverage PR practice that covers packaged food, drinks and restaurants, with published work including the Sparkling Ice town beautification campaign and the Gaea case study. On this site, the beer and beverage public relations guide and beverage PR success stories cover the category.
Frequently asked questions
What is Oatly's digital PR strategy?
Oatly's digital PR strategy is to use an unpolished, self-mocking voice and public controversy as material for earned attention. Its Super Bowl ad, its t-shirt giveaway and its open letter on the Blackstone investment are the clearest examples.
Why did Oatly face a backlash in 2020?
Oatly faced a backlash because it took a 200 million dollar investment led by Blackstone Growth. Critics pointed to Blackstone's alleged ties to Amazon deforestation, which Blackstone denied, according to AgFunder News.
Is Oatly profitable?
Oatly reported its first full year of profitability for 2025 on an adjusted EBITDA basis. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure, so the company still reports net results separately. Oatly guided to adjusted EBITDA of 25 to 35 million dollars for 2026.
How can a challenger brand measure a PR campaign?
A challenger brand can measure a PR campaign with branded search volume, earned coverage, sentiment, retail velocity and its share of AI answers, compared with a baseline recorded before launch.