TAMPA, Fla. (NewsNation Now) — Most brands that have money to spend on Super Bowl ads are already household names, but the big game is also a chance for upstarts to make a big splash.
That’s what the CEO of Swedish oat-milk manufacturer Oatly attempted in an ad starring himself. “Wow, wow, no cow,” sang CEO Toni Petersson, as he played a keyboard in a field of grain.
The bizarre song and non-professional singing got a mix of plaudits and brickbats on social media, which seemed to be the point. Moments after it aired, the company started promoting a T-shirt with the words: “I totally hated that Oatly commercial.”
“If you just watched our CEO sing in an oat field on the big game, we can’t give you back those 30 seconds but we can give you a 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 company said in a tweet.
Another lesser-known brand, Dr. Squatch, also promoted itself with a bizarre ad but hired comedian James Schrader to do the talking.