We launched the Hellmann’s “Real Food Rescue” food recovery program by giving out free food to anyone in attendance at a sold-out Toronto FC match.

At halftime, after having fed thousands of spectators, we played a jumbotron video to show everyone exactly where their meal had come from. What the crowd had believed were typical delicious Hellmann’s free samples, were actually made with “rescued” food from local supermarkets.

This unconventional sampling brought awareness to our program, demonstrated the scale of the food waste problem, and showed people.

Hellmann’s is made with real, simple ingredients. Since 2007, the brand’s mission has been to bring more real food to more Canadians with the Real Food Movement.

Last year, the launches of McDonald’s at-home mayonnaise and Heinz “Seriously Good Mayo” threatened Hellmann’s dominant market position. Our challenge was to defend Hellmann’s #1 market share.

To do this, and differentiate ourselves from the mass of dips, condiments, and spreads, we were asked to re-assert Hellmann’s commitment to real food by evolving its “Real Food Movement” in a meaningful way.

Canada is the second-worst food waster in the world, per capita. Meanwhile, millions of Canadians go hungry every day. So we decided to show Canadians how big a problem food waste actually is.

We calculated that Canadians waste enough food EVERY MINUTE to feed a stadium. So, we did exactly that: we fed an entire sold-out stadium food waste – and revealed it to them afterwards during halftime.

This launched the “Hellmann’s Real Food Rescue” program: an ongoing food recovery program at North America’s third-busiest stadium that will provide over 100,000 meals to people in need by May 2020. This program has just expanded into other stadiums, starting with Vancouver and Winnipeg, with more to come.

Target

• Mother. Bullseye age: 30-31. Average household income. $83,500. Affluent with a bachelor’s degree.

• Reads email, keeps up with news and active on social media.

• Most importantly, she bears most of the responsibility for planning her family’s meals.

Our client made the brave choice that the primary aim of this campaign was to be a good corporate citizen – selling mayonnaise was secondary.

Hellmann’s Mayonnaise is made with real, simple ingredients. (Unlike its competition, Miracle Whip.) And since 2007, Hellmann’s’ mission has been to bring more real food to Canadians through the “Real Food Movement”. We needed to re-assert Hellmann’s commitment by evolving its “Real Food Movement” in a meaningful way. To do so, we focused on the problem of food waste. Our data showed that food waste is a growing problem in Canada, but that Canadians had very low awareness of the extent of the problem.

We calculated that Canada wastes enough food EVERY MINUTE to feed a stadium, so we knew exactly how to launch the “Real Food Rescue” food recovery program to the public: by feeding a stadium food waste.

First, we gave out free food to anyone in attendance at a sold-out Toronto FC match.

At halftime, after having fed thousands of spectators, we played a video showing everyone where their delicious meal had come from: the “garbage” at local supermarkets. The jumbotron video was filmed/edited that week to show the recovery of the actual food served to the crowd.

We then announced the Hellmann’s “Real Food Rescue” program partnership with MLSE – and showed the faces of real people who would benefit.

The campaign was promoted nationally through influencers, online video and social paid media.

Our microsite, PR, influencers and social content also taught Canadians how to reduce home food waste.

- We did not just raise awareness. We created a program that is making a sustainable difference in people’s lives and for the environment

- We are exceeding our goal of 100,000+ meals distributed to families in need by May 2020

- The “Real Food Rescue” food waste recovery program is ongoing at Scotiabank Arena (North America’s 3rd-busiest arena) – and has just expanded into other stadiums, starting with Vancouver and Winnipeg, with more to come.

- Social impact at: corporate level (food waste recovery at stadium events), community level (assisting local food banks) and consumer level (personal food waste education)

- 13.5 million earned media impressions to date

- Online educational tips view through rate +80% above industry benchmark

- Social influencer content generated 2 million+ organic impressions / engagement rate 3.5x industry benchmarks

- Hellmann’s successfully defended #1 market share against new entrants