Around 15 years ago, I worked in a traditional ad agency, and I remember times when my team and I used to watch ads to find inspo. Cannes, Clio, you name it. With some of them, we were mesmerised by how they ever got approved. A colleague said: "If we show something like this to one of our clients, they're going to change their agency." Well, this one belongs to that group. Big shoutout to Oat Cult for approving it.
This week, the irreverent overnight oats brand came out with a film that looks like anything but an oats commercial. Black and white, set in 15th-century Italy, made by independent agency Thingy & Thingy and directed by Mike Upson of MindsEye. The film launches a limited-edition tiramisu flavour.
A horror film with a decaffeinated flavour
This film follows a campaign that started in 2025: a launch film by Insiders, also in black and white, that closed on the line "Overnight oats without the sacrifice." Founder Ben da Costa says backing creative people, from agencies to someone making things in their bedroom, is part of what Oat Cult is for. Thingy & Thingy, which brands itself "The Anti-Advertising Agency, Advertising Agency," describes its own work as "a little more shart than art."
Da Costa said he knew his baby was in safe hands when he read the script. "Then they pushed it into a hole." The silliness is built on serious work. The recipe went through 30 versions before the team settled on real decaf coffee instead of flavouring.
The market is boiling, and a giant just walked in
Overnight oats are one of the fastest-growing breakfast trends in the UK. According to Oat Cult, tiramisu is becoming a new (old) dessert sensation on the isles: Great British Chefs named it dessert of the year, and it now sits on almost 15% more UK menus than a year ago.
But the tiramisu moment and the oats' own momentum are not the only reasons behind a new flavour. This June, PepsiCo launched Quaker Overnight Oats in UK retail, in a 350g pouch at £3.75.
A giant sees a huge gap to fill with budget, and Oat Cult opted to build a cult. The startup launched on Amazon in March 2025 and closed its first outside funding, £220k, only three months later. Around 70% of its new customers now subscribe on their first purchase. A brilliant strategy cooked with humour, wit, and old-fashioned oats.
Seen from there, a medieval horror film for a breakfast brand is not as far out as I thought. In a market filled with chaos and opportunity, the strangest idea in the room might be the only one a giant can't outspent.
