Super Bowl 2021 Viewers Stunned Over Oatly Commercial, Banned in Sweden

Millions of viewers tuned in to Super Bowl LV on Sunday night with the intention of finding a new favorite commercial. There were several spots that created conversations on social media, but one unique ad truly stole the show. Oatly, a Swedish company creating non-dairy products, sparked a lot of comments with its odd approach.

The brief commercial, which is banned in Sweden due to a lawsuit from the Swedish dairy lobby, featured Oatly CEO Toni Petersson sitting in front of a piano in the middle of a field. He plucked the keys and sang about oat milk being made for adults. “It’s like milk but made for humans,” Petersson sang. “Wow, wow, no cow. No, no, no.”

“Being the only vegan in the room when that weird a— oatly commercial came on was rough,” one viewer commented on social media. Several others voiced their opinions about the unique ad and declared that they either loved or hated the 30-second song. One person simply said that the commercial reminded them of the cult-classic film, Napoleon Dynamite.

Oatly is acutely aware of the responses to the Super Bowl commercial. The company released a statement on its website and acknowledged the strangeness of the entire situation. Though the company also said that it found success in drawing new viewers to the website.

“Maybe interrupting the second quarter so the world could experience Toni’s musical stylings about how oat milk is like milk but made for humans wasn’t the most Super Bowl-ish idea ever, but on the other hand, our attempt to promote Toni’s singing skills to a wider audience actually got you to visit an oat milk company website on the big day,” the company wrote on its website. “Total success!”

Along with the statement, Oatly also released a limited number of t-shirts for free. The design featured a rendering of Petersson and his piano, along with the message “I totally hated that Oatly commercial.” The shirt was free for viewers to order, as long as supplies lasted.

“The rules of time and space make it impossible to give you back the 30 seconds you just spent watching our Super Bowl commercial, but at least we can give you this free t-shirt that lets the world know where you stand on our attempt to promote Toni’s singing skills to a wider audience,” The shirt’s description said. “Feel free to wear it proudly knowing we are not offended since we believe that having different opinions on things is what helps move society forward, even if those particular opinions are strong enough for you to want to wear them in t-shirt form.”