MILRAM Cheese: From creative design to an absurd debate

It all began with a marketing idea: a limited-edition design range for MILRAM cheese packaging. Colourful and varied. Featuring illustrations of different people taking part in shared activities. What these designs triggered kept MILRAM on tenterhooks for weeks: a social media storm that was reported on in the media across Germany. The DMK Group, to which the MILRAM brand belongs, responded to the hateful posts with a clear stance in favour of diversity and against hate speech.

There are many characteristics of MILRAM cheeses: from savoury to spicy to mild. Until August 2025, ‘woke’ had not been one of them. And certainly not a debate about whether cheese is allowed to be ‘woke’. But with the design edition, that changed overnight. On the packaging, three artists had creatively showcased the MILRAM brand value of ‘community’ – with illustrations of people of all ages, of different skin colours, in various groupings and engaged in shared activities.

The launch of the special edition triggered an unexpected viral backlash. Right-wing groups accused Milram of ‘wokeness’ and ‘propaganda’. This bordered on absurdity that could scarcely be surpassed. The campaign involved specially designed cheese packaging that was intended to visually represent the diversity of society through different depictions of people.

A thorough analysis reveals that, following initial isolated YouTube comments and Twitter posts, the smear campaign took place almost exclusively on Platform X and was further fuelled by fake accounts and bots. Negative hashtags such as #müllram or #boykott dominated the discussion; in particular, accounts with links to the AfD and right-wing influencers fuelled the backlash on a massive scale. It was therefore by no means an expression of widespread consumer outrage, but rather a small group using the packaging to spread discriminatory and, in some cases, racist messages.

Taking a stand against hate speech

How did the company handle this situation? Calmly, thoughtfully, with a clear stance and a targeted strategy: defusing the situation rather than escalating it. The communications team deliberately waited a few days before issuing its first response to the hateful posts. MILRAM then took to Instagram to express its bewilderment in a humorous meme, which immediately garnered over 13,000 positive reactions. This counterpoint had a calming effect and noticeably defused the debate. The next step in the strategy: the company issued a statement, organised background briefings and conducted interviews with key media outlets. It became clear that the company stands by its values. As a cooperative, democracy is a top priority. And the slogan ‘Difference is our DNA’ is more than just a catchphrase from, as staff from over 50 countries demonstrate. Consequently, the company remains unfazed even by a smear campaign.

The tone shifts

BILD was the first mainstream newspaper to pick up on the backlash, making its de-escalating stance clear right from the headline: ‘What on earth is all this nonsense?’ The online satirical magazine Postillon also highlighted the absurdity of the debate and helped to calm the situation. Subsequently, further digital content emerged, including on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, which increasingly took the wind out of the sails of the absurd ‘woke’ debate.

This was followed by a strong media response. Virtually all leading media outlets reported the backlash, including Stern, WirtschaftsWoche, Fokus, ZDF, RTL and SAT1. The tone towards the brand was positive or neutral across all media; most described the smear campaign as absurd. Overall, the media coverage achieved an enormous reach of over 150 million impressions.

After about two weeks, the wave of hatred finally subsided and MILRAM could simply get back to talking about cheese. No longer ‘woke’, but spicy, savoury or mild.