‘Eat Them to Defeat Them’ campaign is back

‘Eat Them to Defeat Them’ – the award winning campaign with Veg Power to encourage children to eat vegetables – is returning to TV as part of a £10 million media alliance between ITV, Channel 4 and Sky, aimed at improving children’s physical health over the next three years.

Last year’s inaugural campaign proved hugely successful, with over 650,000 children eating more vegetables and 18 million more units of vegetables sold – enough for an extra portion of vegetables on every family dinner table in the UK for each week of the campaign. The promotion originally launched in January 2019 as a collaboration between ITV and Veg Power.

The campaign is now back and ready to make a bigger statement with a seven-week advertising campaign across ITV, Channel 4 and Sky that kicks off on Saturday (February 15) at 7.30pm, with a combined donated spend of £3 million in broadcast airtime. This will enable a reach of 80% of households with children, in the biggest ever single campaign to promote vegetables in the UK. It is funded by Aldi, Asda, Birds Eye, Co-op, Lidl, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, with pro-bono contributions from advertising and media partners.

The initiative focuses on a different vegetable each week, encouraging children to join the fight to defeat the vegetables. Over 1,500 schools will also be taking part, with vegetable-related canteen recipes, posters and 450,000 reward charts and sticker packs for kids to take home. Communications agency adam&eveDDB will be creating six ten-second ad spots for the campaign, with additional support across supermarkets and food brands.

Dame Rosie Boycott, chair of Veg Power, said: “The ‘Eat Them to Defeat Them’ campaign has driven real behaviour change, and is loved by children and adults alike. We’ve proved that the power of creative advertising can inspire children to eat more veg and reduce their chances of developing diet-related illness, so it’s crucial that we build on this success. Industry, business and Government must forge ahead and promote veg in more dynamic and creative ways.”