Oat-of-here: Oatly’s top creative exits—with one last jab at milk

The creative brain behind the Oatly Department of Mind Control has left the farm.

John Schoolcraft, the award-winning global creative director behind the popular oatmilk brand, confirmed in a recent interview with Swedish publication Resumé that he stepped back from his role as head creative in June 2024, but stayed on as an advisor. Now, after 13 years with the brand, he is stepping back from his advisor responsibilities as well.

“When is it time to leave a company you’ve helped build? When it comes to a company like Oatly, the answer is probably never,” Schoolcraft told Resumé. “I’ve had all the best creative collaborators you could wish for—they’re all my friends today—and I’ve gotten to work with a brand that’s seriously doing something good for our planet. That doesn’t happen in the advertising industry.”

The creative first made waves in the industry when he joined in 2012 and dismantled the challenger brand’s marketing department. Schoolcraft replaced it with the ‘Department of Mind Control,’ already unsubtly expressing his distaste for the corporate structures and traditional processes. He replaced it with the aforementioned department composed of only creative directors and got the go-ahead from longtime friend, Oatly CEO Toni Petersson, to bypass all approvals except Petersson’s. The flexible setup empowered the team to release their creative work when they felt it was ready to go into the world, sidestepping the red tape typically part of the approval process.

The rest is award history. 

During Schoolcraft’s tenure, the dairy alternative earned numerous industry accolades, including two Cannes Gold Lions and several Silver and Bronze Lions in 2021 for its "Help Dad" campaign, which humorously targeted middle-aged men hesitant to switch to plant-based milk. The following year, the blunt "Are You Stupid?" campaign received a Silver Cannes Lion in the Outdoor category for its goading messaging. And who can forget the heavily debated the Super Bowl commercial that featured Petersson belting out 'wow no cow' in 2021?

But for Schoolcraft, the success is not in the awards. “Winning awards has never been my focus; what I'm most proud of is that we did something as crazy as oat milk and questioned the myths about cow's milk,” Schoolcraft stated in his Resumé interview. “To go to work every day and do something that's good for the environment, and to have such great success with it. I feel honoured to have been a part of all this.” 

Unsurprisingly, Schoolcraft’s creative style disrupted the milk category as a whole, as the brand was taken to court by dairy trade association Dairy UK to contest Oatly’s marketing slogan ‘Post Milk Generation’ printed on its food and beverage product labels, amongst other lawsuits. After battling it out in court since 2019 through a series of decisions and appeals, the finale saw the Court of Appeal ruling in favor of Dairy UK, deciding that the trademark violates EU and UK regulations. The company recently settled greenwashing allegations. 

The brand has also earned criticism and consumer boycotts for Blackstone becoming Oatly’s second-largest investor with a 10% stake in the brand, despite the investment firm’s association with deforestation practices and support for president Trump, who has vehemently stood against climate legislations. Petersson defended the decision to partner with Blackstone as a path to scale sustainability.

And yet, Schoolcraft remains unfazed by the legal drama over the years, as seen in his parting LinkedIn post that concludes with career lessons and the ultimate mic drop: “F*** milk.”

As for the Oatly team, they stay cheering from afar and remain amused by Schoolcraft’s anticlimactic exit. “John is very pleased it took nine months for people to even notice that he was missing,” Martin Ringqvist, executive creative director for Oatly, told Campaign. “The thing is though, he never really left. He has stayed on in an advisory role, making sure that we keep the Legal Department busy. And he’s done a great job.”

Ringqvist worked closely with John on building the Oatly brand since 2012. “What John has created is something unique and we will make sure to carry on his legacy in the weirdest way possible. And as long as I keep getting texts from him like ‘that headline is f*cked up,’ I know we’re on the right track.” Oatly’s recent campaigns, including the delightfully bonkers Update Milk campaign in the US and the barista blind taste tests in the UK, seems to insinuate that Schoolcraft’s eccentric influence will live on, despite his name no longer being included in the credits.

Oatly has not confirmed replacement plans for Schoolcraft.