Nourish Scotland tell us that only a fraction of any advertising spend is actually spent on advertising for vegetables. In comparison with spending on sugary snacks and soft drinks, the amount of cash devoted to getting us to buy carrots and peas is very small indeed.
Below is the winning advert in a design competition run last year to try and sell more vegetables.
The new Peas Please initiative is launching its new Veg Advertising Fund to change all that.
On Thursday evening 18 January 2018, there will be a large projection of the vegetable ad onto the rear facade of the City Chambers (facing Princes Street).
Look out for it after sunset!
(Sadly, and rather ironically, Nourish Scotland who sent us this news do not have an advertising budget so we will not be able to publish the advert in our next print edition, but you can see it below.)
Speaking at the Peas Please Veg Summit last October, Council Leader Councillor Adam McVey said: “I am absolutely supportive of this initiative. This is an important other layer of the work that we can do as a council and city. To achieve the Eat Well goals we need to make the greens more attractive, from a young age. It’s not just about food, it’s about living longer and better.”
Advertising vegetables is important because Scots are struggling to get their Five a Day.
Food Standards Scotland’s Head of Public Health Nutrition, Heather Peace, said: “We’re happy to help fund the Peas Please initiative in Scotland which is designed to encourage us all to eat more vegetables. This is especially important as we only average around three portions of fruit and veg each day in Scotland, when we should be eating at least five.”
Low vegetable diets are related to 20,000 premature deaths yearly in the UK: research shows that diets high in fruit and veg protect us against coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Pete Ritchie, Executive Director of Nourish Scotland said: “Advertising works. There is not just one answer to tackle the nation’s diet crisis, but addressing the bias of advertising must be part of the solution. The sector needs to put more money and creativity into selling veg. Putting a proper advertising fund in place will boost consumption, improve health and help producers.”
The Peas Please initiative is led by the Food Foundation, WWF, Food Cardiff and Nourish Scotland. This new initiative addresses declining levels of veg consumption and aims to bring together farmers, retailers, fast food and restaurant chains, caterers, processors, broadcasters and government departments with a common goal of making it easier for everyone to eat vegetables.
The advertising competition ran for 2 months from August to October 2017. Design agencies and students were asked to design a vegetable ad for children and young people, and there were over 60 entries.
The winner was chosen by a panel of children alongside Sir John Hegarty, from Bartle Bogle Hegarty and Michael Moszynksi from LONDON Advertising, and announced at three Vegetable Summits in London, Cardiff and Edinburgh on 24 October 2017.
Photos MAVERICK PHOTO AGENCY
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
