By Julie Tomascik

Wow, wow. Yes cow. I think I’ll have some milk now.

Seems like a pretty catchy tune, but I’m not brave enough to sing it for you, especially during a commercial.

But let’s talk about the brand that did. Oatly made it to the big screen for the big game, but I think the commercial played about as poorly as the Chiefs’ receivers.

I mean it left a lot to be desired. Like any accurate information, a dairy farmer and most importantly, a cow.  

Because you need a lactating animal, like a cow, to call your product milk.

All Oatly gave us was a CEO singing a jingle. A little awkward, if you ask me.

But moooving on to some real dairy facts omitted from the commercial and the brand’s marketing efforts…

Dairy farmers strive to be good environmental stewards. They often live on the farm or near the farm. And they rely on the land, water and air to make a living and raise their family.

Contrary to popular belief dairy is a heavily-regulated industry. Farmers must follow a number of rules from federal and state agencies.

And dairy feeds our economy. In the Lone Star State, the total economic impact of the Texas dairy industry is $4.3 billion.

So-called “big dairy” and “factory farms” are, in fact, run by families. According to the U.S. Dairy Export Council, 95 percent of American dairies are family-owned and operated businesses.

For centuries, those family dairy farms have been going green. They are committed to reducing their carbon footprint and adopting technology and innovative practices to continue to grow their sustainability story.

Thankfully, agriculture, including dairy farms, were going green before green was cool.

With advancements in technology, genetics and animal husbandry, we have fewer dairy cows producing more milk today.

Now that’s efficient, making milk sustainability nutritious and undeniably delicious.

But for those who are lactose-intolerant or prefer an alternative, I agree that there’s a place for dairy substitutes in the grocery store. But they should be labeled as such—like almond juice, oat juice or something that clarifies the nut- and plant-based beverages aren’t milk.

Everyone deserves fair dairy labels. After all, I want to know when I’m buying an imitation product.

Because real milk comes from real cows. Anything else is probably nuts, or in this case…oats.