Description
Oatly pulls off another masterclass in self-aware advertising by boldly pointing out the obvious: if they did include a delicious, glossy, Instagram-ready food picture, you’d probably be way more tempted to try their oat fraîche. But instead, they leave you staring at a blank dotted box, like a missing puzzle piece they refused to put in.
And somehow… that’s the charm.
How It Works:
This ad plays the “anti-ad” game perfectly. Instead of seducing you with food photography, they highlight the fact that they aren’t doing it, and even tell you the exact percentage that they’d improve sales if they did.
The humor is dry. The honesty is disarming. And the missing visual becomes the most attention-grabbing part of the whole poster.
It flips the script: the absence of a mouthwatering dish becomes the very thing you remember.
How You Can Reuse It:
Use the “call out what’s missing” technique. Point out the marketing trick everyone expects… then intentionally don’t use it.
Leave a space blank. Expose the formula. Admit the shortcut.
It creates a sense of transparency that feels refreshing and witty, and it pulls people in because it treats them like insiders, not targets.
When you break the rules out loud, the audience leans closer, because suddenly, they feel like they’re part of the joke, not the pitch.
