May 31, 2024 12:34 pm | Ricki Green | No comments
Spoiler alert: New Zealanders waste $3.2 billion worth of food every year, which is terrible for both the environment and our wallets. So, as part of their commitment to reduce household food waste by 50% by 2030, Love Food Hate Waste NZ (LFHW) has partnered with TBWA\New Zealand to raise awareness of the issue. To raise awareness of the issue, TBWA\NZ messed up their “for good” message by creating a giant billboard that grew moldy over the course of a few weeks.
TBWA\NZ worked with Landcare Biometrics to custom create three giant petri dishes filled with agar to grow a mould that is harmless to the public. The mould comes from a food source, of course – blue cheese – and the petri dishes themselves are one metre in diameter. Outdoor advertising specialists Bootleg were then brought in to help create the unique living billboards.
The signs went up in mid-April and slowly and naturally grew mould over a period of six weeks. The stunt was meant to draw attention to the mass food waste issue and a new initiative: reusable 'Eat Me First' stickers. The reusable stickers are free and available to the public by scanning a QR code on OOH, the LFHW website, at their local council or to collect free from selected Woolworths stores nationwide.
Sophie Worland, project manager at LFHW, said: “We needed to get the message across loud and clear, because food waste is a huge issue that we don’t often think about on a day-to-day basis.
“The vivid visual representation of wasted food is intended to jolt passersby into action, motivating and inspiring New Zealanders to reduce food waste, minimise their carbon footprint by reducing harmful emissions from food waste and save money.”
“This is one of those issues that's hard to get people to act on, and it requires a big, attention-grabbing initiative, a clever way to remind us all to eat our old food before throwing it out,” said Shane Brandnick, chief creative officer at TBWA\NZ.
“This campaign was incredibly technically challenging for the team, but it was a very vivid reminder that if you don't eat it, it goes to waste – and that's terrible for families' finances and really bad for the environment.”
The LFHW also launched a major campaign which included the installation of several giant monuments to mouldy food: a giant mouldy apple on Wellington seafront to remind New Zealanders that “nobody likes a rotten apple”, and a giant piece of mouldy toast at a local train station to inspire people to “break the mould”.
The campaign culminated with NZ Lamb & Beef's 16ft lamb chop being resurrected at Te Komitantanga Plaza in Britomart – with a mouldy twist, of course. Now that all the campaign signs and posters have disappeared, the lamb chop stands tall in front of everyone, covered in fake mould. The accompanying sign read “At the heart of the problem”, which is certainly fitting for how this good organisation has set out to solve this pervasive problem.
Read more: https://lovefoodhatewaste.co.nz/eat-me-first-stickers-explained
Distributor: TBWA\New Zealand
Media: MBM
Scientists: Bevan Weir and Diana Lee/Landcare Research
Big Spoiler Monument: Carl Moody/Bootleg
Marketing & Communications Manager: Juno Scott Kelly
Project Manager: Sophie Worland
Digital Marketing Coordinator and Content Manager: Gel Lim
