Oatside draws flak as Vietnam ‘CMO’ job posting is revealed to be campaign trick

OATSIDE, an Asian plant-based drink brand originating from Singapore, has copped flak for a marketing campaign it carried out in Vietnam last week.

The campaign was not as straightforward as it appeared, as it was disguised as a job listing with an actual application page on LinkedIn, posted by OATSIDE Vietnam itself, which was later revealed as a marketing stunt for the brand's latest "Chief Milk Officer" campaign.

When reached out to by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Cindy Lin, marketing director at OATSIDE, admitted that the campaign has caused frustration and disappointment especially among the professional community on LinkedIn, and the team regrets their actions. "We regret the poor judgement on our part in execution of this campaign and are implementing these measures internally to ensure we do better in the future."

As the incident involved the collection of sensitive data for the "job applicants", Lin detailed the steps OATSIDE would take to handle the privacy of these individuals. "We received applications for the role listed on Linkedin. We want to be clear: the privacy of these individuals is our priority. We are in the process of reaching out to every applicant directly to apologise for the misunderstanding," she said. 

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She also confirmed that all candidate data received through this specific campaign was handled with strict confidentiality and has been permanently deleted from its systems. "No data was or will be used for any purpose beyond this initial (and mistaken) collection."

On its future practices, OATSIDE will be implementing guidelines on all creative marketing efforts to ensure they do not have negative impacts to the community. This includes using professional recruitment platforms strictly for legitimate career opportunities only, and including a "marketing stunt" disclaimer for any campaigns which mimic real-world processes. 

The OATSIDE marketing team will also ensure that all regional campaigns involving public participation must undergo a 'Market sensitivity review' by a non-marketing stakeholder, and every campaign must pass the 'Value exchange' test where if a participant were to feel used instead of getting value out of the campaign, the campaign concept must be reworked.

Lin also said that the brand's teams will be required to identify the 'Directly affected audience'. "If the campaign’s success relies on misleading this specific group, it is an automatic 'no-go'," she added.

The "Chief Milk Officer" campaign has also been paused. "Our immediate priority is to focus inward on self-improvement. We want to take this time to genuinely reflect on the feedback we’ve received and refine our internal processes, ensuring that our future creative work remains both joyful and respectful of the professional community’s trust," added Lin. 

How the incident unfolded

A report by TKDS Magazine traced the episode back to 30 March 2026, when Oatside Vietnam posted a LinkedIn job listing for a CMO role based in Ho Chi Minh City. On paper, it looked like a standard senior marketing hire, with clear objectives, responsibilities, benefits and a dedicated email for applications.

The post read like any other corporate recruitment ad on the platform. Within five days, more than 100 professionals had reportedly submitted their formal applications.

Then, on 4 April, Oatside revealed in a social media post that “CMO” did not stand for chief marketing officer after all. Instead, it meant “chief milk officer” – a fictional title for “the person who decides what good milk tastes like”. The appointed CMO was Pamela Hải Đường, a four-year-old child influencer whose qualification was “over four years of experience drinking milk”.

The brand also reportedly sent rejection letters to real applicants, informing them that they were “too mature” for the role, and that the whole setup was a “cute trick”. It then shared a link in the comments section of the post, directing people to its new campaign video featuring Pamela as the new chief milk officer.

The campaign video centres on a young mother searching for the right milk for her child. After trying Oatside’s new Rich Oat Milk flavour, Pamela, gives it her approval, and the mother is reassured that the product contains calcium, vitamin D and vitamin B to support her child’s wellbeing.

The brand’s apology

Netizens flooded the Facebook post to call out OATSIDE Vietnam for the prank, raising sharp questions regarding the brand's handling of the data from over 200 submitted resumes.

One Facebook user pointedly asked, "Cho hỏi Oatside sẽ làm gì với data của hơn 200 CV CMO đã apply vào công ty mình?" (What will Oatside do with the data of the 200+ CMO candidates who applied to the company?).

Another expressed a deep sense of betrayal, stating: "Mình từng rất thích brand và brand luôn là ưu tiên 1 mỗi khi mình đi siêu thị, nhưng đùa kiểu này với mấy anh/chị đang kiếm việc trong tình hình kinh tế như này thì brand quá đáng rồi đó" (I used to love this brand; it was always my first choice at the supermarket. But playing a joke like this on people searching for work in this economic climate is simply crossing the line). 

Following public outcry, OATSIDE Vietnam published a statement in Vietnamese clarifying that it had taken note of the online discussions around its CMO recruitment initiative.

It admitted that using a recruitment format on a professional platform such as LinkedIn was inappropriate, as it caused confusion and disappointment “especially for those who interacted with the campaign in good faith” given the current sensitive job-seeking climate.

It added that it takes the comments seriously with a constructive spirit and will review how it implements similar campaigns in the future.

However, the brand’s misstep has already been covered across local Vietnamese news portals including Báo Dân trí, CaFe F, Báo điện tử VTC News, Kênh14, Soha, ZNews and CafeBiz, and has also been debated across VOZ forums.

In other developments in the alternative milk space, fellow plant-based drink maker Oatly has lost a long-running legal battle in the United Kingdom over its use of the word “milk” in marketing.

The Swedish company attempted to trademark the slogan “post-milk generation” in the UK in 2021, but Dairy UK, the representative body for British dairy farmers, objected.

After a series of court rulings, the UK Supreme Court has now decided that Oatly can neither trademark nor use the phrase “post-milk generation”. The dispute centred on Dairy UK’s argument that, under trademark law, the term “milk” can only be used for products that come from an animal.

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