Unilever has produced its first-ever corporate-branding TV campaign, putting its fight against child hunger in the spotlight, supported by a social media campaign #ClearAPlate.
The 30- and 60-second spots from WPP’s Ogilvy & Mather and David show speeches by Martin Luther King, Gandhi and youths working to support hunger relief.
They’re part of Unilever’s Project Sunlight sustainability program, and aim to fight child hunger.
The FMCG giant has made eight films aired on TV across Unilever’s five top markets, including the USA and Indonesia.
In the UK , a ‘Bright Future Speech’ delivered by 15-year-old ‘young leader’ Grace aired in the advert break of ITV’s show The X Factor.
The advert follows on from research undertaken by Unilever and Oxfam’s UK Poverty Programme, which found that 75 per cent of people throw away food that could be eaten.
According to the study, ‘Waste not, Want not’, the amount of food wasted could feed all of the UK householders suffering from ‘food poverty’, as one fifth of householders that find it difficult to live on their income said that they have borrowed money from family or friends to buy food.
As such, the advert highlighted the ‘paradox of food waste versus food poverty’ and mark the launch a new campaign against food waste, #ClearAPlate.
This calls on members of the public to commit to reducing the amount of food they waste and posting pictures of ‘clear plates’ (free from leftover food) on social media as a sign of this commitment.
Unilever will also commit to providing 500,000 meals to families in need as part of the campaign.
The advert, the first that Unilever has commissioned to advertise its corporate umbrella brand on TV, forms part of Unilever’s Project Sunlight, which highlights sustainability issues.
Unilever estimates that approximately 300 million people will view the adverts over the coming weeks.
Jon Goldstone, VP of brand building for food and refreshments at Unilever UK, said that “this is a truly exciting time in Unilever’s history – the public launch of our corporate brand and what we stand for.
“We’ve made good progress in sustainability since the launch of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan in 2010, but consumer behavioral change is still the most challenging area for us, so we hope that through this campaign we can get our shoppers on board, living more sustainably,” he said. “We hope people will think about their food waste in the context of people who cannot afford to eat properly.”
