Ad of the Day: Oatly takes inspiration from Inception for ‘most meta ad ever’
Known for throwing the marketing rulebook out the window, Swedish food company Oatly has once again produced a memorable campaign – but is it the most ‘meta’ ad yet?
Reminiscent of the ‘dream within a dream' in Christopher Nolan’s mind-boggling movie Inception, Oatly has wrapped up an ad-within-an-ad-within-an-ad-within-an-ad-within-an-ad-within-an-ad-within-an-ad-within-an-ad-within-an-ad in one single video.
“This film, that took weeks and weeks to produce, is solely made to be posted on Instagram – once. I feel that says something about how we like to operate at Oatly,” said Oskar Pernefeldt, art director at Oatly.
“We put a lot of heart into experiences for [those] that happen to stumble upon them. If you don’t, that’s fine. But if you do, we promise to not waste your time.”
Shot in The Netherlands, the spot begins with a bus stop, then includes a boat, a truck, a newspaper, a billboard, an organ player, social media and finally a mural.
Toward the end of the video, we are privy to an internal meeting about ‘the most meta ad ever,’ with a slightly confused creative director questioning the tactic.
The Oatly Department of Mind Control, its in-house creative team, devised the clever social media spot.
The oat milk brand is well-known for its unique campaigns. Back in July it unveiled ‘the wordiest, stupidest billboards ever’ (Oatly’s words), and even released a super-short 30-second Superbowl ad ‘Wow, Wow, No Cow’ earlier this year.
