Will Big Bird be able to convince kids to eat their veggies?

In support of First Lady Michele Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative, the Sesame Street Workshop agreed to waive its licensing fees for two years and allow its characters to be used for in-store signage and labels on fruit and produce items, as part of a partnership with the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) and Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA).  (Lukovitz, 2013)

The most recent successful effort targeting children was the Bird’s Eye’s Gen Veg campaign, also in partnership with the PHA, which featured a tie-in with iCarly and an invitation for kids to create their own veggie combinations.  The result?  A two-month increase in sales while the campaign ran and plans to continue the effort for two more years with a budget of $4 million.  In addition to new advertising, the program will also include the introduction of new products based on the recipes submitted by the kids.  (Wayne, 2013)

Here’s the blog I wrote about that effort.

http://pjlehrer.blogspot.com/2012/05/genveg-is-idea-whose-time-has-come.html

But, back to Big Bird and his pals.  What do you think?  Will this partnership be a success as well?

Lukovitz, K. (2013, October 31)  Sesame Workshop To Help Market Fruit, Veggies To Kids.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved October 31, 2013, from http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/212478/sesame-workshop-to-help-market-fruit-veggies-to-k.html?edition=66372

Wayne, A. (2013, March 7)  Birds Eye Vegetable Sales Mark Progress in Obesity Fight.  Bloomberg.com.  Retrieved October 31, 2013, from

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-07/birds-eye-vegetable-sales-mark-progress-in-obesity-fight.html

“GenVeg” is an idea whose time has come.

If like me you are still reeling from this week’s headline that 42% of Americans will be obese by the year 2030, (Finkelstein, Khavjou, Thompson, Trogdon, Pan, Sherry, Dietz, 2012) then you will be glad to hear that companies are starting to step up to help fight this critical battle. Birds Eye has joined the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), and made a $6 million dollar three-year commitment to ‘GenVeg’, a kid-targeted campaign.

Kids are not the easiest target to address, but with ads running on Nickelodeon’s iCarly featuring “one of America’s most well-known young stars” and a plan to use their input to create new vegetable products it does seem like the company has done its homework and may be successful in convincing kids to eat more veggies.

But, perhaps more important is the fact that they estimate that 1/3 of the ads will reach Women 26-54 with children 6-11, and household incomes of $30,000 or less.  And, a massive coupon program is part of the plan.  (Lukovitz, 2012)

In the long run, convincing the moms may be more important than the kids.  But what happens when the coupons run out?

Eric A. Finkelstein, PhD, MHA, Olga A. Khavjou, MA, Hope Thompson, BA, Justin G. Trogdon, PhD, Liping Pan, MD, MPH, Bettylou Sherry, PhD, RD,William Dietz, MD, PhD. (2012, June 12)  Obesity and Severe Obesity Forecasts Through 2030.  American Journal of Preventative Medicine.  Retrieved may 10, 2012, from

http://www.ajpmonline.org/webfiles/images/journals/amepre/AMEPRE_33853-stamped2.pdf

Lukovitz, K. (2012, May 8)  Birds Eye Commits $6M To Kids’ “GenVeg’ Effort.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved May 9, 2012, from

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/174162/birds-eye-commits-6m-to-kids-genveg-effort.html?edition=46608