Killer brussels and deadly cauliflower in latest ITV and Veg Power campaign
ITV and the Veg Power scheme have released the fourth installment of their Eat Them To Defeat Them campaign with a TV ad and an activity book distributed to schools.
Run in partnership with STV, Channel 4 and Sky and sponsored by an alliance of supermarkets and food brands the minute-long TV ad drops during the Masked Singer on Febuary12.
The ads will run for five weeks in primetime family viewing slots with different veg in the spotlight each week. From Monday, ITV and Veg Power will send out packs to participating schools with posters, teaching aids, games, and advice on running tasting sessions. Kids will also be given a vegetable reward chart and stickers for joining in the initiative.
The £3m campaign is part of ITV, Channel 4 and Sky’s £10m commitment to promoting healthy lifestyles for children. Funded by the likes of Aldi, ASDA, Co-op, Dole, Lidl and Waitrose the campaign was developed by adam&eve DDB.
Away from TV, media agency Essence has secured pro-bono ad spots with partners including Acast, Spotify, Mail Metro Media, Clear Channel and LadBible.
Baroness Rosie Boycott, chair of the Veg Power board said: "Our latest evaluation shows the Eat Them To Defeat Them campaign is having a much needed, positive impact on children's veg consumption. Now in its fourth year, we hope the campaign will encourage children to adopt life-long healthy eating habits which will, in turn, improve our nation's health."
The Eat Them to Defeat Them campaign started off as an initiative to make veg fun for kids, treating vegetables to the same marketing and advertising as big-branded and junk food.
“The results show that the ‘carrot and celery stick’ approach really works," added Patrick Behar, chief business officer at Sky.
According to ITV and Veg Power research Eat Them to Defeat Them has resulted in three-quarters of kids claiming they find the campaign fun and nearly 60% of children who participated said they ate more vegetables as a result.
It's the first year the campaign has run since the UK government introduced the HFSS pre-9 pm ad ban.