Who: Wonder and Union.
What: A new national campaign promoting the Weston Foods brand’s revamped non-GMO sliced white bread, which now carries the Non-GMO Project‘s verified checkmark.
When & Where: The campaign broke with a 30-second ad that aired during the Oscars telecast, supported by online video and out-of-home—including a subway domination campaign scheduled for March Break.
Why: While Wonder’s wheat was already non-GMO, the brand has now made changes to its yeast, soy flour and vegetable oil to achieve the non-GMO designation for its white bread.
Wonder introduced the revamped product in Western Canada in December, ahead of a national rollout that began this month. Sonia Bongiorno, senior manager, marketing brand build for Weston Foods, says the new campaign is about introducing the revamped product while reassuring consumers that it hasn’t lost the great taste that makes it a hit with kids.
How: The campaign is built around a 30-second spot that shows a mother preparing a sandwich for her young son using non-GMO Wonder, with a voiceover noting that it still tastes as good as ever. If it didn’t, the spot asserts, her kid would definitely tell her otherwise.
It then cuts to her precocious son posing a series of blunt questions to family members: why is his mother’s hair grey on top and black elsewhere, where’s the rest of his teenage sister’s shirt, and does his dad know that he has hair in his ear?
The brand also ran social ads during the Oscars telecast, featuring “overly honest kids” weighing in on the Oscars. Additional elements will be rolled out during the launch period, timed to coincide with events including National Sibling Day, Mother’s Day and the NHL and NBA playoffs.
“We want to be part of the social conversations on occasions that are relevant to families, and remind them of Wonder Non-GMO in a playful way,” says Bongiorno.
What is the Non-GMO Project?: The Non-GMO Project is a non-profit organization with a stated mission of “preserving and building sources of non-GMO products, educating consumers and providing verified non-GMO choices.” More than 63,000 products spanning 27 categories—from breads and baked goods (3,173) to packaged/frozen meals (1,0974)—currently carry the verified checkmark.
And we quote: “Everyone we shared the idea with immediately had a funny story about their overly honest kid, so we knew we were working with a true parental insight.” — Sonia Bongiorno, senior manager, marketing brand build for Weston Foods.
