Protein bar No Cow shows plenty of cow in its first big campaign

Protein bar brand No Cow, as its name suggests, is a dairy-free offering in an increasingly crowded category. To help drive that message home, the brand has debuted a qurky campaign that plays up the love of the bovines it promises to have nothing to do with. With company founder Daniel "D" Katz front and center (and at times, even without a shirt), the new "Join the Herd" effort from BigEyedWish features short, bizarre clips seemingly made for social: In one, Katz and a cow pass an apple back and forth via their mouths. In the shirtless ad, the founder waits to play HQ on his phone while a cow licks him, and in yet another, Katz dances professes his love for cows profusely, along with heart emojis. The spots feature the on-screen tagline "No cow. No bull. No whey." Katz started his business at the age of 18 in 2015 due to his sensitivity to dairy and his trouble finding plant-based protein bars that were low in sugar. Two years later, the Denver-based company got significant investments from private-equity investor 2x Consumer Products Growth Partners and from 301 Inc., General Mills' business development and ventures unit. Now, as it has expanded distribution, Katz is trying to reach new customers with the campaign, and as he says in a statement, "We hope these ridiculous videos will stand out within the protein space and encourage people to explore the benefits of dairy free, low sugar, high protein products." Bigger brands are also trying to stand out in the protein bar space. Kellogg Co.'s RXBar features Ice-T in its biggest campaign to date. And Kind just launched a kids product line with a money-back guarantee and video content from Scary Mommy. The No Cow line is non-dairy, gluten-free, non-GMO, soy free, and vegan. No Cow also sells cookies and recently discontinued its nut-based "fluffbutters." The campaign is set to be seen across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. The No Cow push also includes giveaways, user-generated content challenges, and influencer work. No Cow says it will release two limited-edition flavors, Vanilla Caramel and Chocolate Coconut, as the campaign runs.

Protein bar No Cow shows plenty of cow in its first big campaign

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