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Thinking outside the box: Five of the boldest F&B marketing campaigns
FoodBev Media

FoodBev Media

16 January 2024

Thinking outside the box: Five of the boldest F&B marketing campaigns

In the last year, we’ve seen various players in the F&B industry up their marketing campaigns, with witty slogans, bold statements and eye-catching branding designed to capture consumers’ gaze.


With headlines such as “Crave have got their nuts out in Morrisons!” and “Are these the world’s laziest adverts? This cereal company really can’t be arsed…,” it is clear that guerilla marketing and unconventional thinking are being used to attract consumers across the food and beverage industry.



 


Oat so serious


Oatly, renowned for its clever and quick-thinking campaigns, made waves with a series of physical adverts and billboards designed to draw attention. From its blog page named ‘Oatly Fans,’ to referring to the legal side of its cartons as ‘The boring side,’ and its Fck Oatly site that details its negative press, it is hard to tell what the company will be up to next.



To promote the plant-based brand’s launch in France in November, Oatly unveiled various forced perspective adverts in Paris. Overnight, text-heavy murals with phrases such as “Wouldn’t this wall be much nicer with a carton of oat drink?” cropped up around the bustling capital city. The twist? Delivery workers enter the shot to line up various objects that give the ads new meaning for a series of online videos.


Oskar Pernefeldt, creative director at Oatly, said: “On entering Paris, we learned that commercial walls were only accepted if they were “artfully” done, without products and logos. As we love both art and outdoor advertising, we wanted to honour that when telling the Parisians about our arrival and, at the same time, have some fun with it.”


He continued: “For those who know us, it might be expected that we would do a campaign about our focus on making it easy to switch to a futureproof diet in Paris. But we figured that’s what our products do anyway, and since this is our introduction to France, why don’t we just, well, introduce ourselves? I’m sure we’ll get around to talking about the climate in France too, once we have people’s attention.”


 

Th!s is bold marketing


Last year, plant-based food brand This launched a TV ad campaign featuring food critic Grace Dent, following an investment from ITV as part of its ‘Media for Equity’ programme.


The TV ad saw Dent appear to be fooled by the ‘hyperrealistic-ness’ of the company’s pea protein sausage. The two-month-long campaign featured on televisions across the UK, as well as on the London Underground and bus sides across the city.


The campaign’s tagline, ‘This is kind of a pig deal,’ tapped into the taste of the brand’s meat-free sausages and their nutritional profile compared to their animal-based counterparts – boasting 83% less saturated fat than a traditional pork sausage.


“We’re very excited to be essentially slapping Londoners in the face with a sausage over the next month,” said This co-founder and CEO, Andy Shovel. “It is also a huge milestone for This to kick off our first-ever TV campaign, which shows that even food royalty Grace Dent couldn’t tell the difference.”


Supporting the company’s taste claims, This won two of FoodBev’s 2023 Plant-based Taste Awards with its This Isn’t Pork Sausages and its This Isn’t Streaky Bacon products. In line with its witty marketing, This uploaded a series of eye-catching posts onto LinkedIn announcing the wins: 




 

Surreal campaign


Breakfast brand Surreal nonchalantly kicked off the new year with a creative campaign titled: “Are these the world’s laziest adverts? This cereal company really can’t be arsed…”


Stating the obvious, that January is consumed by “new year, new gym, new running trainers, new diet, new you,” Surreal asked: “But don’t we all secretly wish we were still tucked up in bed watching Christmas movies?”


Instead of the motivational quotes and toned fitness models you’d expect to see from a protein company, high-protein cereal brand Surreal’s adverts were covered with typos, stick figures, Microsoft WordArt, and the simple claim that Surreal “can’t be bothered”.


The adverts certainly look different to the usual January fitness types, with the brand claiming that they proved highly popular on social media, with people calling it “the funniest campaign of the year”.


“Admittedly, there’s not much competition on January 4th,” Surreal added.



 

Craving attention


Vegan and free-from snack brand, Crave, caught eyes with the email subject “Crave have got their nuts out in Morrisons!” Wondering what on earth this means and how it relates to the F&B industry? Look no further…


The slogan was attached to a press release introducing the launch of Crave’s latest free-from nutty products, Big Dipper and Notella.


Made with hazelnuts and dairy-free choc, the two products are 100% vegan and are free from egg, milk and gluten.


Rob Brice, founder of Crave, said: “We’ve gone nuts and created two delicious and indulgent products that you can enjoy as part of a gluten-free or vegan diet. Notella is the perfect tasty staple for your cupboard for toast or pancakes, Big Dipper is perfect for a touch of naughtiness to their day.”



 

WNWN wins


WNWN Food Labs, a company that develops cocoa-free chocolate, released three new eye-catching plant-based products inspired by classic UK favourite bars.


It seems that WNWN is projecting the claim ‘all publicity is good publicity,’ with the new products, which riff on popular chocolate bars Cadbury’s Wholenut, Terry’s Chocolate Orange, and Tony’s Chocolonely.


In a statement, the brand said: “The branding might raise eyebrows; see pictures. How long before the cease-and-desist letters hit, do you think?”



“We’ve reimagined classic chocolate bars by giving them an ethical, sustainable, and cocoa-free twist,” said Ahrum Pak, WNWN CEO. “While they have a far smaller environmental impact, and they don’t rely on unfair labour practices like the originals they were inspired by, they are every bit as delicious. With these products, we’re showing the world how our cocoa-free chocolate can power the future of sustainable snacking.”  

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