Who: Maple Leaf Foods’ Greenfield Natural Meat, with No Fixed Address for creative and strategy, Mathematics and Krypton Films for production (directed by Augusto Fraga), Outsider and Studio Feather for post-production; Grayson Matthews for audio; Fuse Create for media.
What: “The Low Carb(on) Diet,” a campaign that reminds consumers that because meat consumption is bad for the planet, Greenfield’s carbon neutrality makes it a more environmentally friendly option.
When & Where: The campaign launched last week (July 17) and will run until the end of November in Canada and the U.S. across connected TV, digital, social, paid search, in-store retail, and out of home.
Why: It’s been accepted science for some time now that eating meat is bad for the environment. Just last week, a new UK study concluded that vegan diets result in 75% less climate-heating emissions, water pollution and land use than diets of those who eat more than 100 grams of meat a day.
But as the climate crisis continues to rapidly escalate, more consumers are considering the role they play in warming the planet through contributing factors like meat consumption, and are looking for alternatives.
Greenfield launched in 2015 as a sustainable meat company, and has been carbon-neutral since 2019, reducing its carbon footprint with an “avoid, reduce, replace and offset” model. According to Greenfield, its “low carb(on) diet” is food that is good for the consumer and good for the planet.
“Diet culture is so centred on the individual. Our worlds revolve around what to eat, when to eat, how to eat. But the truth is every food choice we make impacts something bigger than us,” said Rena Menkes Hula, vice-president and group creative director at No Fixed Address.
How: The campaign includes an anthemic 35-second video ad with scenes of people eating and enjoying meat, mostly outside—camping, sitting in a park, on a seaside rock—while a narrator delivers the key messaging. “Our world revolves around food… but food impacts our world, too. It’s time we cut carbon over carbs,” she says before going onto to explain that because Greenfield is carbon neutral, it is better food for a better planet.
The film was directed by Augusto Fraga, who directed the new Netflix hit Turn of the Tide, and ends with the “Low Carb(on) Diet” headline and a push to Greenfield’s digital hub, which contains, tips, tricks and recipes for a low carb(on) diet.
Greenfield ran a campaign for bacon in the U.S. last year that shared a similar message: if you love meat—or in that case, bacon—you can still enjoy it without hurting the planet.
“We wanted to flip the idea of a diet on its head,” said Menkes Hula of the new campaign. “Turn it into something that serves the greater good. ‘The Low Carb(on) Diet’ is the first diet that’s important enough to actually do, and delicious enough to actually stick to. Who doesn’t want to be on a world-saving diet where bacon is the hero?”
And we quote: “Our carbon neutral claim is a big step forward in doing better for the environment and if a meat company can be a leader of living a low carbon lifestyle, it’s a great example that people don’t have to feel conflicted in caring for the planet and eating what they love.”—D’Arcy Finley, VP, brand and marketing, Maple Leaf Foods Inc.
