Uptight about making that perfect Martha Stewart Thanksgiving dinner? Relax. Imperfection can be as appetizing as those unsprayed apples and papayas at Whole Foods.
That's the underlying message in the first work for the grocery retailer from Olson in Minneapolis, which picked up the store's Midwestern account (covering seven states, including the metro areas of Chicago, Minneapolis, Des Moines, Iowa, and Detroit) earlier this year. The holiday campaign's whimsical graphics and typography befit Whole Foods's eclectic image. One animated spot focuses on a Thanksgiving shrimp dinner after the host's pup eats the turkey before it could be served. In another, a mistake with a recipe turns dinner into a feast of side dishes. The campaign uses the theme "Come Together," and the end thought of each TV spot is that you don't need to throw a perfect party when you can throw a great one. Experience trumps perfection here, a fitting commercial subtext for one of the country's destination venues for organic food.
The handcrafted approach, which carries through print, digital and Facebook efforts, helps distract from the "Whole Paycheck" jokes dogging the upscale retailer. While that's certainly critical in the current recession, it's also a more suitable attitude in connecting with a new generation of affluent consumers who wear eco-responsibility as a badge of status. The pitch is true to the brand's positioning around authenticity and provenance: Shiny, Photoshopped produce wouldn't work for an organic brand, and this campaign carries nice details throughout the work, like the imperfections in the paper used as a backdrop.
CREDITS
Client: Whole Foods Market
Agency: Olson, Minneapolis
Head of Broadcast: Joel Dodson
Agency Producer: Henni Iwarsson
Creative Director: Jeff Berg
Executive Creative Director: Mike Fetrow
Chief Creative Officer: Dennis Ryan
Copywriter: Monique Thomas
Art Director: Jesse Mitchell
Production Company: Brand New School, Los Angeles
Art Director: Kris Wong
Executive Producer: Jason Cohon
Producer: Madison Brigode
Associate Producer: Jessica Knowles