The Grocery Foundation’s latest “Toonies for Tummies” campaign features the voice of Randell Adjei, Ontario’s first Poet Laureate, who is himself a beneficiary of a student nutrition program.
“Toonies for Tummies,” which has been running for more than a decade, is a campaign supported by Canada’s grocery industry to ensure that no child goes to school hungry. More than 1,500 grocers participate.
The spot was written and developed by Crew, which was first established with headquarters in BC and Texas, and is the Foundation’s first time working with the agency.
The creative features kids getting ready for school, getting dropped off, learning in classrooms and playing on the school ground. It wraps up with the message that 100% of donations from the campaign go directly towards feeding local children. The 30-second commercial features the voice of Adjei, who was named Poet Laureate in 2021, while the 15-second version features the voice of Faduma Mohamed, a Toronto-based poet.
According to Gerald Schoenhoff, chief creative officer with Crew, the inspiration for the spot was the Foundation’s tagline “Nourish Your Neighbourhood.”
“What does that life look like – being fed – and how does that energy manifest itself as kids go into class or to the playground and how do we portray that in an authentic way? That was our overall thinking. Why don’t we tell the story in a poetic way, and paint a beautiful picture?”
From a strategic perspective, Schoenhoff says the spot had to address people’s concerns about the end result of their donations. “We wanted to have a message of optimism to make this appeal a hopeful one,” he says. “We wanted to get the message across that your support for ‘Toonies for Tummies’ is going to bring life into your community.”
Gabriella Nobrega, principal of Breakthrough Communications and Consulting, handles marketing, PR and media for The Grocery Foundation, and was already working with Adjei on another project, which is how his name came up for the campaign. “Crew was looking for an uplifting story and Randell is a shining example of the impact a program can have,” says Nobrega.
She explains that while “Toonies for Tummies” exists every year, and while the meal is critical, everything else that is happening through student nutrition programs is also important. Nobrega says that breakfast programs are often a place where kids can see a friendly face of a regular volunteer, who understands the challenges a child is going through.
“If you look at the creative, you see the children in the classroom so there’s the scholastic piece to it, but you see them at the drop off and it makes you realize there’s a much larger ecosystem,” she says.
Photo: Derek Shapton, Westside Studio
The Grocery Foundation partners with the Breakfast Club of Canada in Western and Eastern Canada and with Student Nutrition Ontario to deploy the donations through those regions. Participating retailers each have a two-week window to request donations at checkout, with the campaign ending on March 20th.
The campaign is supported by a media partnership with Corus’ Global News, beyond the paid media. It includes a PSA on the Food Network with Anna Olson and Adjei and the Foundation’s executive director will appear on The Morning Show. Social media, meanwhile, is aligned to retailers’ various two-week windows.
Fifth Story handled social media.
