The plant-based food category has, in the past, been relegated to a niche audience of vegetarians and vegans. But with the recent introduction of new competitors like Impossible and Beyond Meat, the audience segmentation and the category itself have expanded to new heights. Despite this new category enthusiasm—and despite being one of the original innovators in the space—MorningStar Farms has seen its share of media fall amongst the increased competition.

The challenge for the brand has been two-fold:

- CATEGORY-SPECIFIC: a pre-conceived notion that veggie burgers and plant-based proteins taste bad

- BRAND-SPECIFIC: for people outside of the category who are aware of it, MorningStar Farms is often considered a brand that’s “not for them.”

The client asked us to come up with a unique creative idea that would reinvigorate the brand at the height of grilling season, and broaden its base appeal.

Armed with our “first time” insight, we set out to regain our leadership voice in the category by positioning ourselves as the official gateway to plant-based eating, while helping people overcome their negative taste-based assumptions.

With our campaign idea, LOSE YOUR VEGINITY, we invited everyone to make their first plant-based experience an experience with MorningStar Farms.

We looked at category data and found that when you enter the plant-based category with MorningStar Farms, the likelihood of returning is greater than with any other brand. Thus making their “first time” incredibly important.

We obviously needed the perfect partner to help people lose their veginity. So we partnered with Colton Underwood - the celebrity virgin and former contestant on The Bachelor, a long-running and hugely popular American dating reality series – to create a provocative social media campaign designed to inspire people everywhere to “do it.” Leveraging his 2 million + social followers, we produced playful videos rife with innuendo about his first time and we invited fans to join him at a Lose Your Veginity event in NYC. For those who couldn’t make it, we offered a chance to win a “very special package” from Colton, containing both campaign swag and MorningStar Farms product for trial so people could lose their veginity at home.

The campaign injected MorningStar Farms into the crowded plant-based conversation in a fresh new way, helping to regain some of its leadership in the space, while inspiring veggie virgins everywhere to take their first bite.

- Within a week, the first post had garnered over a million organic views and nearly 8,000 comments. Celebrities weighed in. Fans celebrated. Even PETA shared praise for the campaign.

- The social campaign netted 1.6 million organic views, over 7 million total views across the three videos, and over 20,000 comments.

- The live event in NYC was celebrated by a packed house, including both media, contest winners, and fans.

- The campaign generated over 400 million earned impressions with placements in top-tier publications like US Weekly, Cosmopolitan, Fox News, AOL and People Magazine.

- 12% increase in sales year-over-year.