The milk wars: Big dairy vs plant-based milk campaigns — who’s winning the ad game?

“Got Milk?” “It’s like milk — but made for humans.” “Only real milk is real.”

Since the late 1990s big dairy and plant-based milk brands like Silk, Oatly and Kiki have battled it out to claim the word and the product “milk” for themselves. 

But who is winning — legally, commercially and in the hearts and minds of consumers? 

In the U.S. between 1975 and 2024, per capita milk consumption dropped by 47%.

44% of U.S. households now buy plant-based milks. 

In the U.K., anxieties over deforestation and animal welfare have led to 57% of consumers cutting back or removing dairy products from their diets. While only 12% of consumers say they believe UK dairy is, “Very sustainable.”

In comparison, 35% of U.K. consumers say they regularly buy plant-based milks, cheese and other “faux” dairy products. While 69% of U.S. consumers favor products that use ingredients close to their wholefood, plant-based sources. 

Whether consumers go for plant-based milk over dairy milk typically depends on their age group. Over half of Gen Z consumers in the U.S. and Canada say they approve of plant-based milk, compared to only 30% of boomers. Gen Z consumers say they rate plant-based milks for both climate and health-related reasons. This drive in interest from younger generations helps explain the rise in daily consumption of milk alternatives to two-thirds of the level of animal-based milk consumption.

Plant-based milks are expanding at a 10% growth rate  — compared to dairy milk's 2% growth rate.

And great marketing is at the center of the rise. 

In 2021, Oatly made one of their first moves to reclaim the word “milk” in their advertising with their famous, “It’s like milk, but made for humans,” campaign.

The brand playfully poked jabs at big dairy in the U.S. with the, "Wow No Cow," Super Bowl LV commercial that featured a wry song sung by CEO Toni Patterson, featuring the lyrics: “It’s like milk made for humans. Wow, no cow.” 

In 2022, Oatly followed up with a memorable campaign in New Zealand with OOTH ads featuring the slogan in cities across NZ. 

Other plant-based milk brands quickly followed suit with Alpro releasing their, “Shh…this is not milk,” ads in 2021. In it, Alpro claims their creamy oat-based milk can do all the things dairy can do — from filling up consumers’ cereal bowls to perfecting their baking. 

They state on their YouTube channel: “We nailed it! This is not milk. It’s got all the rich & creamy taste you love, amazingly 100% plant-based and made from… oats! Shhh, just don’t tell those bedazzled taste buds. We call it ‘whole’ because with 3.5% fat, it delivers a deliciously full-on creamy taste. Pour it into your coffee, bake it, splash it on cereal or simply sip from a glass. Good for you (and for the planet, too).”

In 2023, Silk Nextmilk followed up with a plant-based, celeb-backed “Got Milk,” campaign — reminiscent of the California Milk Processor Board and MilkPEP’s infamous “Got Milk” campaign from the ‘90s, which Jonathan Kauffman at SAVEUR rightfully dubs as one of the greatest campaigns of all time. 

"’Got Milk?’ is one of the most successful advertising campaigns in American history. It was smart. It was everywhere. Chances are, you remember it vividly. But did it succeed?"

[ -Jonathan Kauffman, SAVEUR ]]

In their “Nextmilk is a better milk,” campaign, Silk Netmilk featured the children of David Beckham, Shaquille O’Neal, John Travolta, and Christie Brinkley (Brinkley and O’Neal featured in the original “Go Milk?” ads) with Silk Netmilk milk mustaches — accompanied by the tagline: “Nextmilk is a better milk.” In the ad, the brand insinuates that Nextmilk is superior to dairy and made for a new, cooler, more healthy and planet-conscious generation. They claim it has the taste and texture of the dairy milk people love, is made from plants, and boasts 75% less sugar. 

A big part of U.S. dairy’s push to reclaim the word “milk” in their advertising, get consumers drinking more dairy milk and lobby to maintain government-backed policies is due to its consistent overproduction of milk. 

The Guardian reports that from 2003 to 2023, milk production rose 40% and exports increased by 8x with the average U.S. farmer turning annual profit just twice.

The Hustle writer Kelli María Korducki notes that dairy milk overproduction is the reason federal dietary guidelines tell adults to drink three cups of dairy per day and why milk production has continued to rise year after year, despite Americans’ drinking less milk than ever. 

In response to their falling market share — snatched from them by plant-based milk brands like Oatly, Almond Breeze and Alrpo — dairy hit back with several large-scale advertising campaigns. 

Plant-based brands aren’t the only ones using wry wit to try to reclaim the word “milk” and win over consumer perception and buying power. In 2023, beloved deadpan actress Aubrey Plaza, who was in The White Lotus and Parks and Recreation, mocked plant-based milks in a commercial for a fake company called Wood Milk.

As imaginary company co-founder, Plaza pours wood shavings over her head and hugs trees while talking up the benefits of “artisanal,” “eco-friendly” and “free-range” Wood Milk — which comes in a range of "cow-free" flavors — including oak, maple, cherry and mahogany.

She asks the viewer: 

“Is Wood Milk real? Absolutely not. Only real milk is real.”

In 2020, UK dairy tapped into the small moments of connections people got to enjoy with family and friends during the pandemic with their £1m Milk Your Moments campaign — a play on words looking to persuade consumers to drink more dairy in the name of better mental health. 

The campaign was funded by AHDB, Dairy UK, Defra, Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive.

On release, a series of ads highlighted how milk and dairy have always been essential aspects of moments of connection people took for granted before the lockdown, like catching up with a friend over tea or coffee or sharing an ice-cream with a niece or nephew. The campaign celebrated these moments with the slogan, “Milk your moments.” 

Partnering with U.K. mental health charity Mind, the campaign noted the importance of human connections on people’s mental health during lockdown. The campaign asked consumers to record their own moments to share with their friends on social media alongside the #MilkYourMoments hashtag. 

In 2023, a PSA-style ad dropped featuring Queen Latifah who called out people judging people for drinking cow’s milk — with the satirical ad calling out “dairy deniers” for engaging in milk shaming. The commercial had the air of an SNL sketch and was written by two campaign creatives who were alumni of the show.

Brian Kateman, cofounder and president of the Reducetarian Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing consumption of animal products, ripped into big dairy's attempt to shift the narrative with smoke-and-mirror humor:  

"But while it may elicit a chuckle, any viewer with a modicum of media literacy could tell you that these ads offer no real evidence or reason to choose dairy. Consider that people are drinking less dairy milk — about 2 to 2.5% annually — while the non-dairy plant milk market, globally, is expected to triple in valuation by 2030. Neither the Wood Milk nor Milk Shaming ads address any of the reasons why people are switching to non-dairy milk, or why they may raise eyebrows at folks who haven’t. Maybe they’re not trying to make a serious case for drinking dairy because they know that there isn’t one."

Following the rise in consumers’ preference for plant-based milks, since 1997, big dairy has lobbied to legally protect dairy-related terms from plant-based producers. 

In 2017, the European Course of Justice ruled that the terms ‘milk’, ‘cheese’, and ‘yogurt’ could only be used to market animal-based dairy products. Yet, a clause in the ruling allows for brands that sell plant-based versions of traditional animal-based dairy products to market using ‘traditionally-used’ terms. 130 exceptions allow them to sell products using terms like almond milk, peanut butter and coconut milk — all of which can legally be used.  

In 2023, the FDA released draft guidance in which they stated that plant-based milk must include voluntary nutrient statements about the ingredients used in their products. 

While in December 2024, after oat-milk brand Oatly tried to trademark the phrase, “Post milk generation,” the UK’s Court of Appeal ruled that only dairy milk could legally use the word “milk.” The court argued that slogans like Oatly’s would only serve to confuse consumers. The ruling was a big win for big dairy in the U.K. 

Oatly argued that the ruling went in the face of “common sense.” And many consumers agree, software engineer at Chubb Angad Kanvar shared with Zappi:

“Beyond being something that comes from a mammal, milk has also become almost representative of a type of ingredient — a creamy, slightly sweet liquid that consists of protein and carb. Under the second definition, a big dairy has no leg to stand on. It’s an exercise in absurdity, trying to police the word — language evolves, and no ‘dairy-lover’ is going to mistake oat milk for cow milk at a store.”

Since plant-based milks hit the shelves, Swedish plant-based powerhouse Oatly and global dairy associations like Dairy UK, the trade association representing the interest of Britain’s dairy industry and American Dairy Science Association (ADSA), a non-profit professional organization dedicated to advancing dairy science, have battled it out to claim the word “milk” for themselves. 

Oatly has arguably become the most well-known plant-based milk brand. During the pandemic, the brand saw an impressive 295% jump in sales. Alongside their rise, their marketing has become legendary. But the brand has been dogged by legal battles with dairy associations across the U.S., U.K. and Europe. 

In the battle between milk and “milk,” the 2014 lawsuit by the Swedish Dairy Association against the brand following the release of their, “It’s like milk, but made for humans,” campaign saw the court ruling in the association’s favor.

In December 2024, Oatly successfully appealed against the previously mentioned “Post milk generation” decision. High Court’s Justice Richard Smith stated that Oatly’s product line and accompanying campaigns were obviously made, “For consumers who no longer consume dairy milk." 

But big dairy ultimately won the battle (at least for now), as in late December 2024, the UK’s Court of Appeal ruled that only dairy milk could legally use the word “milk,” in their advertising. 

“Be under no illusion that making it harder to label and find dairy alternatives benefits the interests of Big Dairy and Big Dairy alone,” said Oatly UK & Ireland general manager Bryon Carroll labeled these moves as UK Dairy's, "Cynical attempts to stifle competition.” 

Across the U.S. and U.K, Oatly’s marketing claims and campaigns have also come under criticism from consumers, investors and advertising authorities. 

In the U.S. in July 2021, investors made moves to sue Oatly — citing issues around greenwashing. They alleged the plant-based milk brand was artificially pumping its shares by over-promoting demand for its products and claiming they were more environmentally friendly than they actually were. 

In January 2022, the UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigated Oatly’s television and press adverts and social-media posts, after receiving 109 complaints from skeptical consumers about the sustainability claims featured in their campaign, “A Greener World.” 

In their TV ads, Oatly said its products generate 73% less carbon dioxide than dairy milk. While they stated in their posts on Twitter and on Facebook that, “The dairy and meat industries emit more CO2e than all the world’s planes, trains, cars, and boats combined.”

Upholding the complaints, the ASA rejected the brand's CO2 claims — claiming they were based on the opinion of one climate expert.

But the legalities around milk marketing isn’t a one-sided war waged by big dairy alone. 

The USDA Office of the Inspector General by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a group that advocates for the health benefits of plant-based eating, filed a complaint against MilkPEP's "Wood Milk" campaign.  

In it, PCRM claimed that MilkPEP is barred by federal statute from engaging in activities, “... disparaging to another agricultural commodity,” and by federal regulation from employing “unfair or deceptive acts or practices with respect to the quality, value or use of any competing product." 

They also argued that the ad was an attempt to influence government policy — as during the ad’s release as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were in discussions about how plant-based milks could be labeled. The agency released guidance in February of the same year stating that plant-based milk companies should label their products “milk” as long as they clearly identified the main ingredient (such as almonds or oats). 

But in the eyes of animal-rights activists, the word “milk” isn’t just a matter of legal definitions, but ethical ones too. 

In the U.S., the artist Praxis, animal rights activist Jamie Logan and the pro-animal non-profit The Truth About Dairy rolled out their campaign, “Peeling Back the Veil,” featuring Praxis' work. The campaign featured a mix of cartoonish and real-life images showing both the illusion of "happy" animals in the food system vs the horrors of factory farming. The campaign insinuated big dairy was lying when they used phrases such as “happy cow” and “grass-fed."

Who should have the right to claim the word milk or should the term be a marketing free for all? 

From “milk” mustaches to satirical “plant-based” milk products, as the milk wars intensify they appear to draw out greater creativity and more attention for products on either side, with dairy milk sales currently sitting at $17.7 billion — a 2% jump from last year with plant-based milks sitting at a relatively-impressive $2.8 billion.