Oatly prints an 89% climate-poll message for politicians on its oat milk cartons

Oatly is the only company in the Associated Press account ^[1]. Everything else it describes runs through news organisations: The Guardian, Agence France-Presse and El Pais at the project's launch ^[8], and Japanese TV stations that said in April they would air announcements over the next two years ^[9].

Oatly's stance is built from a poll. Above the 89-word box sits a much smaller one that reads: "Politicians! These eleven words represent people not interested in climate action." ^[16] Together the two boxes come to 100 words, split 11 to 89 to match the project's headline figure ^[2]. A figure from a peer-reviewed study ^[7] is harder to dismiss as brand opinion. It also commits Oatly only as far as the survey goes: people want their governments to act ^[17].

Oatly's senior sustainability director framed the carton as a use of the company's reach. "Companies should be taking much more responsibility, not only in reducing their own environmental footprint, but really working out how they can use their platform to drive a positive future," Caroline Reid said at an event during New York Climate Week ^[5].

The other half of the arrangement is harder for newsrooms. They traditionally try not to associate with organized advocacy efforts ^[6], and a journalism nonprofit's campaign ^[2] now sits on a commercial product. Mark Hertsgaard, executive director of Covering Climate Now, has a direct answer to that. "We felt that we, and our fellow journalists, were really missing the story here," he said ^[12]. He said most people who want climate action do not realize they are in a "silent majority," and that this is beginning to change as "elements of civil society all around the world pick up this 89% message and spread it themselves" ^[11].

The U.S. data give the carton a specific gap to address. A 2022 study in Nature Communications, based on more than 6,000 Americans, found that 66% to 80% support major climate mitigation policies, while Americans think only 37% to 43% do ^[14]. Americans underestimate that support by roughly 29 to 37 points ^[1]. The same year, an AP-NORC poll found nearly two-thirds of Americans thought the federal government was not doing enough to fight climate change ^[13]. The issue still rarely comes up in political campaigns ^[15].

Oatly has committed to the U.S. launch ^[4]. By January, a message addressed to politicians should be on sale on U.S. shelves. The AP report does not include sales or shopper reaction from the European rollout, so we do not know yet whether the cartons have cost Oatly sales or goodwill there.