Baby Carrots: JUNK FOOD PACKAGING

Credits & Description:

Type of Entry: Product & Service
Category: Food and Non-Alcoholic Drinks
Advertiser/Client: BOLTHOUSE FARMS
Product/Service: BABY CARROTS
Entrant Company: CRISPIN PORTER + BOGUSKY Boulder, USA
Sales Promotion/Advertising Agency: CRISPIN PORTER + BOGUSKY Boulder, USA
Chief Creative Officers: Rob Reilly, Andrew Keller (CP+B)
Group Creative Director: Tiffany Rolfe (CP+B)
Creative Director: Omid Farhang (CP+B)
Art Director: Liz Levy (CP+B)
Copywriters: Omid Farhang, Marc D'Avignon (CP+B)
Designers: Greta Ackerman, Aryanti Ingenillem (CP+B)
Print Producer: Robert Hannau (CP+B)
Digital Artists: Brent Erb, Lucas Svaren, Tyler Gonerka (CP+B)
DFX: Brett Connor, Casey Kerrick, Mike Flynn (CP+B)
Describe the brief from the client:
Americans hate veggies. Americans love junk food. No matter how much you remind people that veggies are healthy, they’re left to rot in the refrigerator crisper. Bolthouse Farms, the leading grower of carrots in the U.S., needed a way to get carrots out of the veggie drawer and get people crunching on them with as much gusto as their favorite junk-food snacks. And since carrots are already crunchy, munchy and neon orange like so many infamous junky snacks, we figured the only thing missing was the junk-food packaging.
Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation:
We turned junk food’s over-the-top marketing tactics against them. In September 2010, we re-launched baby carrots in junk-food packaging. Three differently styled bags hit shelves—extreme, chic and futuristic. Each package featured its own satirical junk-food-style commercial. And then, we went straight for junk food’s turf by placing customized ‘Eat ‘Em Like Junk Food’ vending machines in high schools, right next to their new junk-food competitors.
Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results:
Despite baby carrot junk-food packaging running for just a single month in two test markets, the packaging has earned more than 740 million media impressions internationally to date. It’s been featured in the New York Times, CNN, USA Today, the Associated Press, the Huffington Post and Saturday Night Live. But more importantly, people everywhere are now eating ’em like junk food. We believe as long as people are eating healthier, there’s no wrong way to do it.
Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service:
Carrots were already poppable, dippable, crunchy, munchy, neon-orangey and even addictive. Really, all that was missing was the junk-food marketing. The Eat ‘Em Like Junk Food packaging disrupted the predictable American discourse on healthy snacking and finally put a boring old veggie on the offense.