McCann, Toronto is delivering on a promise made by Michael Fromowitz, its executive creative director.

Shortly after Fromowitz took over the creative helm at McCann after returning to Canada from creative postings in the Far East, Fromowitz lamented in an article published in Strategy that Canadian agency people do not make good use of the newspaper medium, and that they should do more to stretch the creative limits of print.

McCann now has three significant newspaper campaigns running for three clients – Del Monte, Minute Maid and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! margarine.

All three campaigns use full-page, four-color positions. They are also distinctive in their creative approaches.

The Del Monte creative is inventive in its use of white space.

The ads have no headline, and do not use the Del Monte logo until the last ad in a nine-ad series.

McCann arrived at the idea after considerable research that involved going directly to the Del Monte growers.

Fromowitz says the advertising team learned that Del Monte grows its own product, and takes great care getting it right.

‘What’s really important to consumers is the vegetable or fruit that’s in the can,’ he says.

McCann developed the idea of telling a brief story about the contents of a variety of food products and containing that graphically in a small box on a page.

An accompanying illustration, similarly undersized, appears diagonally across the same page.

‘Newspapers allowed us to be out there with the message every week to keep the idea going,’ Fromowitz says.

‘Also, newspapers, more than other media, are a habit,’ he says. ‘That allows you to keep things going in readers’ minds.

‘And it puts you close to the everyday purchase cycle.’

Art director on the Del Monte creative was Terry Iles, and the writer was John Kewley.