Backstage at The NEW NORM&AL SHOW: Al discovers he is only an oat drink carton puppet and an existential crisis begins…

OATLY

THE NEW NORM&AL SHOW

TITLE: BACKSTAGE

We see a title ‘THE NEW NORMAL’. An ampersand drops from above on a rod between NORM&Al followed by the word ‘show’ which pops up on a rod from below and now the title reads: THE NEW NORM&AL SHOW.

Backstage at THE NEW NORM&AL SHOW, Norm is getting his make-up done. All the while, an octopus make-up artist, is fussing with Norm’s hair, adding blush, wiping sweat, etc. with his 8 arms.

OCTOPUS (in mid-sentence): “…Luckily I can fit my entire body through a letterbox…”

NORM: “Interesting. So… what else can you fit your body through…”

Al peeks his head in through the door.

AL: “Norm. Ehhh… You’re not busy, are you?”

NORM. “No, no…”

AL: “I... I just wanted to talk to you about the show.”

NORM: “Sure!”

AL: “Ehmm… How best to put this… I wanna change the name.”

NORM: “Ok..”

AL: “Cause it’s always been Norm first and then Al second. And I don’t think that’s equal, I don’t think that’s fair..

NORM: “Ok”

AL: “So could we change it to The New Al&Norm Show?”

NORM: “The New Al&Norm Show…”

AL: “Precisely this.”

NORM: “Yeah… Yeahh.. we… we… we could . Sure! We could! Yeah!

AL: “Yeah! Great! I’ll pick up some new flyers!”

NORM: “BUUUUT! People might not understand that we’re trying to equate switching to a plant-based diet as The New Normal. Norm – Al – get it? We’ve basically been created to help communicate that in a really kind of an abstract and fun way — You see, we aren’t real, Al……. Oat drink cartons can’t really talk or have feelings about inequality, can we? We’re from inside the minds of some pretty disturbed people at Oatly who decided using puppets was the best way to talk about the importance of a plant-based diet and how it’s a more sustainable way to eat. It’s not like you have to make a complete switch but eating more plant-based foods is one of the best ways to lower your climate impact. That’s why we call it THE NEW NORM&AL SHOW.”

AL: “So…. I’m… I’m not real?”

Al begins to look around suspiciously, he has just now noticed the edges of the set. Norm then leans in to reassure AL and says:

NORM: “You’re real to me, Al.”

SUPER: OATLY LOGO

The following dialogue happens under the Oatly logo. We don’t see any puppet action. Al has just realised he is a puppet and the conversation descends into existentialism.

AL: “I feel real!”

NORM: “Yeahhhh… You are real-ish…”

AL: “I’ve always felt real!”

NORM: “Yeaahhhh!”

AL: “I have a rich inner life!”

NORM: “Well. It’s… It’s good to know these things now and then…”

AL: “It’s just.. I… I’m struggling with this, Norm!”

NORM: “Even our conversation is.. is pretty…pointless, really…”

AL: “Yeah! I mean it sort of feels weird, because like… As… As you said, like, we are oat drink cartons and we can’t… we can’t talk, but… I can hear….”

NORM: “No! But but but… It’s actors talking in a studio!”

AL: “What, so this has been recorded ahead of time??!”

NORM: “Yes!”

AL: “This isn’t like a… This isn’t an instantaneous spontaneous moment, where …”

NORM: “No, no! All of this is all scripted!”

AL: “This is all written down!”

NORM: “It’s all written on a bit of paper!”

AL: “But it sounds so real…”

NORM: “It does!”

AL: “…like the chemistry, it’s just…. Oh! Phew… This is… Honestly… I might need a lie down, I might genuinely need a lie down, because I can’t actually deal with the idea that I’m not real and that I’m being voiced by someone else and the words that are coming out of my mouth aren’t even my own words they’re just written before. ”

Al is starts losing it and begins crying…

NORM: “Calm… calm… calm down…”

AL(crying): “I WANNA BE A REAL BOY”

Al then makes lots of desperate crying noises.