Macaroni & Cheese: Blind Taste Test [video]

Credits & Description:

Nomination: Integration
Category: Multi-platform Campaign
Award: Silver Winner
Entrant: CP+B, Boulder
Brand: Kraft Mac & Cheese
Corporate Name of Client: Kraft Heinz
Media Company: Starcom Mediavest Group, Chicago
PR / Marketing Company: Olson Engage, Chicago
Agency Account Directors: Evan Russack/Kelly Olech
Agency Strategic Planner: Kaylin Goldstein
Agency: CP+B, Boulder
Chief Creative Officer: Ralph Watson
Executive Creative Director: Adam Chasnow
Creative Director: D’Arcy O'Neill
Copywriter: Emily Salas
Art Director: Tyler Gonerka
Head of Production: Kate Hildebrant
Executive Agency Producer: Deb Drumm
Agency Producer: Jamie Slade
Production Company: Hungry Man, Los Angeles
Director: Hank Perlam
Executive Producers: Mino Jarjoura/Nancy Hacohen
Director of Photography: Eric Steelberg
Line Producer: Caleb Dewart
Editing Facility: The Now Corporation, New York
Editors: Owen Plotkin/Jessica Dowling
Description of the Project:
In April 2015, Kraft announced they would be removing artificial flavors, preservatives and dyes from their macaroni & cheese. While some people were ecstatic, lots of Kraft loyalists were extremely worried that taking out the artificial stuff would change the iconic Kraft Mac & Cheese taste that Americans have loved for almost 80 years.
 
We were tasked with advertising the new recipe, but we quickly learned that the power of suggestion is strong. Heck, people swore they could taste a difference when Kraft first announced this change was coming, and the new recipe wasn’t even on shelves yet.
 
So we decided not to advertise the change at all.
 
Although Kraft had originally planned to begin advertising the new recipe when they started selling it in 2015, we counseled them to stay quiet for a few months to prove no one would notice a change in taste. In September 2015, Kraft began printing 50 million new boxes that looked exactly like their old ones, updating only the ingredient label to covertly sell the new recipe. They began shipping these boxes to stores nationwide in November 2015. In December 2015, stores began selling the new recipe, unbeknownst to their employees or their customers.
 
On March 7, 2016, we announced that we had successfully pulled off the World’s Largest Blind Taste Test, and the results were just what Kraft had hoped – virtually no one noticed a change in taste.
 
March 7, 2016 was also the date that we launched all of our media explaining what we had done. The TV introduced millions to the story, while the website and online video went deeper. Magazine ads, banners, social posts, radio, in-store, a Snapchat integration and vast media coverage helped drive home the message.