Foodbank WA is an organisation that provides people across Western Australia with access to nutritional food, no matter their situation. In 2023, Foodbank released its Annual Food Report, revealing an ominous reality. 

A staggering 250,000 Western Australians are facing severe food insecurity, and of those, 116,000 are children. This showed an increase of 80,000 households regularly going without food from 2022 to 2023.

85% of Western Australian households experiencing food insecurity said this directly resulted from the cost-of-living. This often means deciding between paying for everyday needs like electricity or food, or heartbreakingly, whether you or your child gets to eat. With no sign of cost-of-living decreasing, these numbers are predicted to grow.

Foodbank WA needed a campaign that would increase awareness around food insecurity, drive donations and ultimately, bring hope to hungry Western Australians.

We created the world of The Hunger Ghrelins. Ghrelin is the hunger hormone that rises in our stomachs when grow hungry. Obviously, hormones are invisible to the naked eye, so we needed a way to bring them to life.

We started with kids, asking them to draw what a ‘hunger hormone’ would look like to them.

Then in-house ‘big kid’ illustrators created usable 2D versions.

“We can do better than that!” cried our 3D animator who then made them 3D, bringing high-end production values to our campaign on a minimal budget.

The animated character world of The Hunger Ghrelins became the look for the whole campaign and inspired our donation-driving toy, made available in supermarkets across WA.

The Hunger Ghrelins has been executed across multiple media formats, engaging our audience to interact with the campaign at different times throughout the ongoing campaign timeline.

A film, OOH, and radio executions lead people to our bespoke website, telling the story of hunger, hormones and hope.

The website acted as a storytelling platform and a direct path to purchase: people could buy their Hunger Ghrelins kits. Furthermore, the website encouraged people to donate directly to Foodbank WA and to share on social media, creating even more visitors and donations.

The toy sold in supermarkets and shops across WA, supported by social media, including influencers promoting The Hunger Ghrelins across their own channels, expanding the reach of The Hunger Ghrelins campaign.

The Hunger Ghrelins have been rolled out to film, OOH, social media, a bespoke website and, of course, the packaging.

Packaging and zine – tell the story, dive into the science behind ghrelin and why this is such a significant cause to raise funds for.