Why Oat Milk Latte Culture Is at the Center of a Troll Debate

Search results for OATSIDE on social platforms have filled with posts praising OATLY while criticizing OATSIDE. The accounts are mostly newly registered, posting times are concentrated, and the copy formats are strikingly similar, which led fans to suspect a competitor hired paid posters. The story matters because oat milk lattes are a main alternative for lactose-intolerant coffee drinkers who still want caffeine.

Oat milk lattes became popular partly because they suit people who find a standard latte is bitter or hard to digest. OATLY of Sweden and OATSIDE of Singapore partner with chains such as Starbucks, Manner, and % ΔRΔBICΔ. Whether the posts are malicious smearing or something else, the episode shows how quickly brand reputations can shift in public search results.

For consumers who are lactose intolerant yet can't do without caffeine, oat milk lattes have become the preferred alternative to traditional lattes. As the oat milk market expands rapidly, brands such as OATLY and OATSIDE are gradually coming into public view. Recently, however, some netizens discovered that when searching for OATSIDE on social platforms, the page floods with numerous posts praising OATLY while trashing OATSIDE — with concentrated posting times, accounts mostly newly registered, and strikingly similar copy formats, sparking fans' suspicions that a competitor has hired trolls. Is this controversy malicious smearing or is there another story behind it? And what does malicious trashing mean for brands and consumers?

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For consumers who can't stand bitter coffee, a latte with milk added is often their first choice. But this classic coffee drink without any bitterness gives lactose-intolerant groups quite a headache — a traditionally made latte is, for these people's bodies, nothing short of a sweet burden.

To cater to those who are lactose intolerant but still need caffeine, many chain coffee brands opt to replace the milk in lattes with lactose-free plant milks such as oat milk, almond milk, and soy milk, giving rise to products like oat milk lattes and almond milk lattes. Among them, the oat milk latte, with its unique rich and mellow taste, has won the favor of a large number of lactose-intolerant coffee consumers.

After oat milk lattes became popular, the oat milk brands partnering with chain coffee brands such as Starbucks, Manner, and % ΔRΔBICΔ also entered the public eye. Products from well-known oat milk brands like Sweden's OATLY and Singapore's OATSIDE gradually appeared on the tables of lactose-intolerant consumers, and many netizens treat them as everyday milk substitutes.

Recently, however, some netizens noticed while browsing online that when searching for OATSIDE on social platforms, the results page throws up quite a few posts praising OATLY and trashing OATSIDE. This kind of praise-one-trash-the-other content has led many loyal OATSIDE fans to suspect that some competitor jealous of OATSIDE is deliberately smearing and belittling it.

"What's wrong with a certain brand? How come they arranged trolls to forcibly trash OATSIDE? OATSIDE, a small brand, got stomped on for no reason, and even the trolls' format and replies are all the same," "Low-level business warfare is just finding new accounts to post content defaming the other side," "I saw it that day too, really, one search for OATSIDE and it's all the black posts they made," "This OATSIDE oat milk is so tasty, this kind of malicious smearing of a peer is really off-putting!"

Sharp-eyed netizens analyzed and pointed out that when they search for OATSIDE on social platforms, these trash-talking posts with identical photo backgrounds and similar text content surface, and moreover these posts have close posting times, with the posting accounts mostly being new accounts that haven't been in use long or were just registered.

Netizens with fan-circle experience say this kind of operation should be organized, premeditated troll behavior — it could be a competitor's smear and belittlement of OATSIDE, or it could be a third party jealous of both OATLY and OATSIDE "stirring up discord," and of course it can't be ruled out that it's consumers deliberately doing it out of dissatisfaction with the brand.

The business world never lacks back-and-forth competition, such as the coffee price wars between chain brands previously, where major brands rolled out discounts and collaborations to attract more customers. Open and aboveboard competition can push brands to develop better and launch products more favored by consumers.

But if means such as malicious smearing, trashing, and hiring trolls to write bad reviews are used to attack competitors, it will likely backfire, incurring consumers' disgust and aversion, and will also affect the brand's own image and ruin its public goodwill.

Image source: Internet

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.