Kerrygold Turns Dairy into Digital Gold

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Kerrygold’s whimsical influencer trip to Ireland proves butter can go viral with the right story, setting, and creators.

Butter isn’t the usual star of influencer marketing  but Kerrygold just changed that. The Irish dairy brand’s recent creator trip to Ireland has gone viral on TikTok, racking up over 7.7 million views and sparking a wave of reaction content that’s anything but ordinary.

From May 15 to 18, Kerrygold hosted seven U.S.-based food and lifestyle creators on a scenic tour of Ireland’s lush pastures, local cuisine, and the farms behind its iconic butter. The campaign’s breakout moment came from creator Katie Zukhovich, whose TikTok video—“Here’s everything I ate on a butter brand trip in Ireland” garnered over a million views.

“It feels so novel — no one would ever expect a butter brand to have a brand trip,” Zukhovich told Adweek, highlighting the campaign’s unexpected charm.

The trip’s success wasn’t just about novelty. Kerrygold’s strategy emphasized authenticity, creative freedom, and a deep connection to place. The brand avoided the overproduced gloss of typical influencer campaigns, instead leaning into storytelling and cultural immersion. According to Kerrygold’s senior brand manager Kelly Harfoot, the goal was to show why butter—often seen as a commodity—deserves brand love too.

The results speak volumes. Compared to a similar 2023 campaign that reached 2.3 million, this year’s effort more than tripled engagement. The campaign also benefited from serendipitous factors: unseasonably good weather, a rising cultural fascination with Ireland, and even the trending color “butter yellow.”

In a saturated influencer space, Kerrygold’s campaign is a reminder that creativity, context, and a bit of whimsy can still cut through.