Alberta Beef Producers and Mealshare are very different kinds of organizations. But within them, we saw potential to steak out a hunger-fighting idea that could be well done in any medium. Once we got (almost) all the beef puns out of the way, we carved out a collaborative solution to help hungry youth.
Alberta Beef Producers represent the collective interests of more than 18,000 beef cattle producers across Alberta. They guide the industry internally and help promote it to the public.
Mealshare is a non-profit charity on a mission to end hunger in our lifetimes. Their main idea is to “use hunger to end hunger” through a simple buy-one, give-one donation format. When people order a Mealshare item at a participating restaurant, a healthy meal is donated to youth in need.
Since launching in 2013, Mealshare has expanded to partner with 300 restaurants in 8 cities and 43 communities and delivered over 1.4 million meals. But like every charity initiative, they need to get attention before they get donations.
The challenge we created was unique: we needed to promote Mealshare’s hunger initiative, but we had to frame it in a way that also supported Alberta Beef Producers’ Western brand.
Our answer was “Make Hunger Rare” — a rallying cry that united the project’s shared purpose and served both brands.
We started by firing things up downtown. Our first course was to transform sidewalk grates into barbeque grills, complete with dry ice “smoke.” Check the video if you haven’t already. It’s super cool (because it’s dry ice).
We also built up an appetite in the suburbs with leave-behinds at grocery stores and retail locations, and special food markers for participating restaurants.
All of these tactics converged at MakeHungerRare.com, where people could find other participating restaurants, get more information, and share the campaign online to take our message even further.
During its six week run, the campaign reached 473,821 people, drawing attention from pedestrians, restaurants, customers and cattle producers. This last group was one of the biggest surprises, with beef producers accounting for 33% of total social media engagement.
One of the guiding principles at WS is the idea that “Food Is Love.” With support from Alberta Beef Producers and collaborative ideas like Make Hunger Rare, we’re helping Mealshare fight hunger and share more of that love every day.
All of these tactics converged at MakeHungerRare.com, where people could find other participating restaurants, get more information, and share the campaign online to take our message even further.
“This was one of the first projects I got when I arrived at WS, and it’s still one of the most rewarding. Finding a shared message for a premium food advocate and a hunger charity seemed like a challenge at first, but the agency’s unique collaborative style led us to a solution. It’s a bit of a cliché to say ‘it’s all about teamwork here,’ but it really is.”
- Sean Mitchell, WS Senior Copywriter
