• by Danielle Oster , May 6, 2024

Farmer-owned Oregon dairy co-op Tillamook County Creamery Association is entering a new era with the introduction of its “Extraordinary Dairy” brand platform as it pursues further national expansion -- and attempts to put deceptive marketing allegations behind it.

The campaign was created in partnership with Leo Burnett — which the brand named ias its creative agency of record last year. Visuals features close-up shots of the brand’s dairy products designed to showcase its quality and stoke consumer appetites. While no celebrities appear onscreen in the campaign, it is not without its star power. Actor and singer Josh Gad, best known for roles in Disney’s “Frozen” and “Beauty and the Beast,” lends his recognizable voice to the campaign.

"We leaned into the brand's personality to convey what it is that truly sets them apart from the other brands in the dairy aisle," Leo Burnett president and CCO  Britt Nolan said in a statement. "Adding Josh Gad as the voice talent elevated the childlike wonder and whimsical energy we were after."

“Extraordinary Dairy” rolls out this month with a cross-category launch campaign spanning channels including TV, online video, audio ads, and OOH. Some dozen ads highlight different dairy categories, each ending with the introduction of the “Extraordinary Dairy” tagline.

Tillamook offers dairy products across seven categories, and the company claims to be one of the fastest-growing brands in the cheese, cream cheese, and ice cream categories. According to Tillamook, it also has the best-selling cheddar brand nationwide.

The campaign arrives as Tillamook eyes further national expansion, on the heels of new product announcements such as its whole milk mozzarella, brick cream cheese, and “Chocolate Collection” of four chocolate-focused ice cream flavors.

It also comes as Tillamook seeks to put a long-running legal battle related to past marketing claims  behind it.

 In March, an Oregon Supreme Court heard arguments about whether or not to let a “greenwashing” lawsuit against the company, which was initially filed in 2019, proceed. That case was brought against the company by the Animal Legal Defense Fund on behalf of Oregon residents who claim that Tillamook’s marketing claims around its sourcing and environmental practices were deceptive.

The lawsuit was previously dismissed by a Multnomah County Circuit Court, which held it didn’t qualify for a class-action, a decision which was then affirmed by the Oregon Court of Appeals in August of 2022. .

“The Tillamook County Creamery Association adamantly disagrees with the allegations made in the lawsuit, and we have been aggressively defending ourselves against those false allegations since the lawsuit was first filed back in 2019,” Tillamook wrote in a statement provided to Oregon Public Broadcasting. “We remain gratified that all previous rulings, those in both the trial court and in the Oregon Court of Appeals, have been in our favor, and we anticipate that this latest appeal by the plaintiffs will be similarly unsuccessful.”