Hellmann’s vs. Virtual Food Waste
Recognized by One Show, Clios, Marketing, Effies, Atomic Awards, Shopper Innovation Awards, Strategy Awards, and the global Unilever Annual Marketing Awards.
"#BestOfTweets 2020 Best Campaign Connecting to Culture" – Twitter Canada
"'Best of 2020' List." – Ad Age
"The Mighty List 'Creative We Loved in 2020' Top 10" – The Message
During lockdown, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the most popular game in the world. But did you know it has a big food waste problem? Hellmann's Canada used this virtual problem to raise awareness of real-world food waste. For each spoiled turnip players dropped off on #HellmannsIsland, Hellmann's gave a real meal to people in need. The campaign was also adapted for the UK market and has donated 100,000 real meals. Hellmann's believes food is too good to be wasted. Even virtual food.
UK Commercial (starring Stephen Fry and made with only in-game footage)
Each year in the UK, brands spend millions of pounds on Christmas ads – it's like their Super Bowl. When I lived there, I always wanted to make one. When Hellmann's UK asked us to adapt our virtual food drive for their market, we seized the opportunity to make a commercial using only in-game footage, meaning ZERO filming costs. Then we enlisted Animal Crossing-enthusiast Stephen Fry to narrate.
"Christmas ads that clicked, according to brain science." – The Message
Coverage
So far, this campaign has featured on the front page of Reddit, AdAge and AdAge Top 5, Nintendo Life, Nintendo Dispatch, Campaign Live USA, Asia and UK, AdForum Top 5 of the Week, HypeBeast, PR Week, Business Insider, Mobile Syrup, Yahoo! Finance, The Canadian, Shack News, Strategy, Dual Shockers, Trendhunter, TecRobust, a Best on BestAdsonTV, and many other sites. It's also been retweeted thousands of times. Visitors also started sharing island tours on YouTube and Twitch, including Chase Crossing, AbdallahSmash026 here and here, Shokupan, Atelier Rosette Streaming, Crystal Dreams, Steelo and Kri, and others.
The Halloween and UK adaptations received additional coverage, including Metro UK, The Drum, Famous Campaigns, Little Black Book Online, The Stable Australia, The Indiependent, Go Nintendo, Nintenderos, Trendwatcherz, The Grocer UK and received a "Best" on BestAdsonTV.
Credits
Client: Unilever / VP Marketing Christian Bauer-Plank / Foods Marketing Director: Gina Kiroff / Sr Brand Manager: Kristen Denega / Brand Manager: Amanda Gandolpho / Channel and Customer Brand Manager: Ben Graham / Agency: Ogilvy Canada, Toronto / Chief Creative Officer: Brian Murray / Copywriter: Ian Dunlop / Art Director: Philippe O'Rourke / Island Designer: Kim Sison / Designer: Clayton Whelan / Chief Strategy Officer: Tom Kenny / Sr Strategist: Tanvi Swar / Senior Partner, Group Account Director: Aviva Groll / Account Director: Beth Blatch / Account Executive: Kemal Sehoglu / Account Coordinator: Rebecca Tummers / Video Post Production: Eric Thompson / Ogilvy UK Worldwide MD: Stephane Orhan / PR: Edelman Canada / UK Campaign Adapt ACD: Tom Bellamy