ITV and Veg Power's "Eat them to defeat them" returns for its fourth (re)incarnation, this year with a TV ad bursting with zombie horror references and veg attacking grown-ups.
Aiming to provide one million children with activity packs, the campaign plays along with the childhood notion that vegetables are evil, so much so that they are hellbent on taking over the world. Thus the only way to beat them is to eat them.
Created by Adam & Eve/DDB, the £3m campaign goes live tomorrow night (12 February), with a 60-second spot during the primetime final of The Masked Singer on ITV.
"They come from deep underground," an ominous voiceover intones, as moaning vegetables emerge at night, zombie-style from the soil.
"They will stop at nothing until they've taken over the world," the narrator continues, as a procession of fruit and veg is seen making its way towards a city.
The action cuts to a woman in her car, who is then attacked by rampant brussels sprouts.
Scenes of apocalyptic mayhem and zombie tropes ensue as the veg destroy civilisation, or at least look set to.
But the ad cuts to a girl with peas impaled on the tines of her fork. "You're going down, peas," she declares.
"Get souped," a boy says, as he hits the button on a food processor and blitzes a load of vegetables.
"I'm helping to defeat them," the kids say in unison.
"Join the fight," the voiceover concludes. "Eat them to defeat them."
The initiative – which is the brainchild of ITV and Veg Power and is supported by broadcasters STV, Channel 4 and Sky, as well as an alliance of supermarkets and food brands – has so far led to the sale of almost one billion additional kids' portions of vegetables, equating to just under £92m, according to ITV.
After the ad has gone live, the campaign's schools programme will commence, running for five weeks, each of which will champion a specific family-favourite veg. Schools will host tasting sessions, display posters and receive teaching aids and games, while one million children will be given a vegetal reward chart and sticker pack.
Essence planned off-air media and secured pro-bono contributions from advertising and media partners, including Acast, Spotify, Mail Online, Yahoo, LadBible, Ocean Outdoor, Clear Channel and JC Decaux.
The campaign is part of the participating broadcasters' £10m commitment to promoting healthier lifestyles among kids, as pressure grows on adland to restrict kids' access to HFSS advertising. It launched in 2019 under the aegis of ITV and Veg Power. The following year Channel 4 and Sky joined in, with each committing £750,000 to match ITV's £1.5m commitment.
The campaign is also funded by retailers and brands including Tesco, Waitrose, Lidl, Aldi and Asda. Adam & Eve/DDB's works on a pro-bono basis on the campaign.
Last year's "Eat them to defeat them" told parents and kids to "Prepare for battle". ITV said that more than 75% of children said it was "fun", while 60% of kids who participated in schools claimed they ate more vegetables as a result.
Susie Braun, director of social purpose at ITV, said: "It's never been more important to make sure our kids eat well, and the best way of doing that is to make it fun. 'Eat them to defeat them' has proven to be an incredibly effective way of changing children's eating choices, and ITV is proud to once again be behind it."
Verica Djurdjevic, chief revenue officer at Channel 4, added: "'Eat them to defeat them' has been a fantastic success and delivered amazing results. Channel 4 is delighted to be part of such an important mission which has real impact on children's lives and well-being. Introducing healthy eating from the outset doesn't just mean children are getting more vitamins and fibre into their diets, it helps develop healthy eating habits which will last a lifetime."
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