How Veg Power aims to get UK children eating more vegetables
18 March 202080% of kids in the UK are not eating enough vegetables1. Campaigner Veg Power is on a mission to change this. We look at its successes, and why...
80% of kids in the UK are not eating enough vegetables1. Campaigner Veg Power is on a mission to change this. We look at its successes, and why it won IGD’s Award for Health and Wellbeing in 2019.
Children in the UK are not meeting government guidance to eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables every day. When we focus in on vegetables, analysis by The Food Foundation found that a whopping 80% of primary school-aged children don’t eat enough1.
It’s not surprising for a number of reasons:
In focus groups children described vegetables as ‘disgusting’ and ‘boring’2
Half of British parents have ‘given up’ trying to feed their kids 5-A-DAY3
Only 1.2% food and drink advertising spend in 2018 went on promoting veg4
Source: Veg Power
Eat Them to Defeat Them
IGD’s 2019 Health and Wellbeing award winner, Veg Power made a positive difference by advertising veg to children from a creative new perspective.
The not-for-profit aims to get every child in the UK to eat one more portion of vegetables each day, and in 2019, they joined forces with ITV to launch ‘Eat Them to Defeat Them.’ The ad campaign showed vegetable armies taking over the world. The grown-ups needed children’s help to defeat them by (you guessed it) eating them. The campaign was supported by an impressive alliance of supermarkets and brands, showing the power of collaboration. It’s certainly worth a watch, but be warned, it’s scary!
“This partnership was too big and too rare an opportunity to repeat the mistakes of the past. We know that the ‘Veg is good for you’ message simply doesn’t work on kids, so we wanted to talk to them on their level, using their language, and recruit them to be the active agents of change.”
MAT GOFF, CEO, ADAM&EVEDDB
It’s estimated that 44% of UK children saw the television advert on ITV and on average they saw it 5.8 times2. There were also cinema ads, billboards, supermarket signage and print media to consider so the reach is impressive.
A post campaign survey by Childwise found that 48% of households with children remembered the campaign across any channel5.
What impact did the campaign have on consumption of vegetables?
Following the campaign, there was a significant difference in attitudes towards vegetables.
650,000 children said they’d eaten more veg for each week of the campaign.
In addition, Kantar Worldpanel data showed a 1.7% year on year increase in claimed veg consumptions by under 16's during the campaign period.
Commenting on Veg Power’s win, Judge Laura Jacobson, Head of Insight at IGD, said: “Veg Power’s Eat Them to Defeat Them campaign impressed the judges with its sheer scale and ambition, over its short three-month running time. It was also highly innovative in using a range of outreach and engagement techniques alongside traditional advertising. Rewards and sticker chart packs were sent to around 3,000 schools, and there were interactive activities such as a family fun day, vegetable-themed competitions, and cookery lessons for nearly 10,000 students in Lambeth.”
Source: IGD
Future focus
In 2020, building on its 2019 success, Veg Power has now linked with 11 retailers and discounters, had celebrity endorsements and reached 38.2m people through advertising on the ITV network, press and community posters. With specific vegetable-focused weeks in and 300,000 primary school activation packs for pupils and parents, Veg Power is able to link with schools and inspire children to live healthier lives.
We look forward to monitoring their ongoing success!
Feeling inspired?
Have you been involved in a project that makes it easier and more convenient to follow a healthy balanced lifestyle, or improves consumer awareness?
If so, showcase your commitment and achievements in helping people lead healthier lives by entering the IGD Award for Health and Wellness.
References
Veg Facts, The Food Foundation (2016) available at https://foodfoundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/FF-VegDoc-V5.pdf
Veg power, 2019. Eat them to defeat them – campaign evaluation 2019. Available: https://vegpower.org.uk/reports/
A survey of 2,000 parents of children aged up to 10 commissioned by Beko
Nielsen Ad Dynamix. Sourced from: Eat them to defeat them – campaign evaluation 2019
Childwise, 2019. Research commissioned by Veg Power and ITV