PR Campaigns That Changed Our Lives: John Megaughin from Clearbox
In the summer of 2014, something quite amazing happened that touched the hearts of millions around the world. And it involved a bucket and some ice. Chris Kennedy, a professional golfer, challenged his cousin Jeanette, who had been diagnosed with ALS—also known as Lou Gherigs disease, to dump a bucket of ice water on her head and then nominate others to do the same to raise awareness of the disease. What started as a simple idea with a powerful purpose, quickly gained a wave of support, and went viral. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, as it was known, skyrocketed ALS awareness, and over 115 millions dollars were raised for research, which impacted many lives. This is a great example of how PR, strategic communication, and collective action can create real change in this world, and connect and unite us.
Fellow space explorers, welcome to our new blog post series: PR Campaigns That Changed Our Lives! Throughout this series, we’ll be featuring experts in the field of PR and communications, and asking them about those PR campaigns that have had a lasting impact on them.
In the first part of our new feature, we reached out to John Megaughin from our partner agency, Clearbox Communications, to find out his favorite PR campaign, and what it was about the campaign that stood out to him.
John is the director of Clearbox, a progressive, forward-thinking and inclusive consumer PR agency based in Belfast.
Clearbox director, John Megaughin
John states:
”There are many campaigns that have amazed (and amused) me over the years, but I’m going to go with something recent. My favourite campaign of 2023, without doubt, is F*ckOatly.com.
In the unlikely event you’re not aware of it, the website has been around for a little while and seemed to be created by people who hate Oatly. The name alone might have given it away, but when you had a look on the website, it appeared to be a collection of anti-Oatly sentiments and controversies. It was described as a “time machine for all things bad about an oat drink company” and, on the surface, didn’t seem like something a normal brand would be behind.
But Oatly isn’t like any other brand.
It turns out that the website was indeed created by Oatly. For anyone who follows the company, it can’t have been a surprise—Oatly is always on the front foot when it comes to managing controversies and negative news cycles in an innovative way that very few others would even think about. Instead of burying their head in the sand, the people at Oatly take on the trolls and fight their corner with cold hard facts, a bit of sarcasm and a lot of humour. Have a look through the brand’s LinkedIn page or read its responses to people on social media, and you’ll see what I mean.
Oatly’s campaigns will often ignite a feeling among PR and marketing professionals—the feeling of ‘I wish we could do something like that’—and I can give the brand no higher praise than that.
F*ckOatly.com is brave, bold, clever and, in my opinion, absolutely brilliant. It’s also fun. We’re supposed to do some fun things now and again. Don’t forget that, PR people!
Ps. Full disclosure—Oatly is a client of Clearbox, but we weren’t involved in this campaign. This is pure, unbiased, professional love!”
