Meal kit service ads usually sprinkle food porn visuals between messages about convenience. John st. and Canadian meal kit service, Goodfood, have a different message to tell and a different way to tell it. 58% of food in Canada is wasted. Its meal kits reduce waste.

If that message is prosaic, its delivery isn’t. The partners have recruited Richard the local raccoon as brand ambassador. He is not the usual brand ambassador. The fun part is that he is an animatronic raccoon. The entertaining part is Goodfood is really angry with Goodfood. He’s hungry because Goodfood has got rid of all the food scraps he eats.

The 30-second commercial went to air in Canada during the Oscars and begins an ongoing campaign with unhappy raccoons to give the food Canadians eat more meaning. The campaign is running in English and French markets across Canada, supported in social and digital.

“At Goodfood we’re on a mission to be ‘good-er’ in everything we do,” stated Jennifer Stahlke, executive vice president of marketing, Goodfood. “We’re working towards 100% locally sourced ingredients, partnering with local chefs and restaurants to try and create a stronger connection to the food on your plate and most importantly all our meals are perfectly portioned, so there’s zero food waste,” Jennifer continued.

Jamie Marcovitch, executive creative director, john st., added, “As we were generating ideas to bring the Be Good-er platform to life, we started to think about who would be most negatively impacted by an initiative that led to less food waste. And the answer was obvious: raccoons. So we created Richard, a hungry scavenger who’s mad as hell and isn’t going to take it anymore.”

Richard was created by Puppet Island to be lovable, charming and cantankerous. What he thinks is wrong with Goodfood meals is what should make humans want to order them.

Credits

Client: Goodfood
Vice President: Jennifer Stahlke
Creative Director: Valentine De Leotard

Agency: john st.
Executive Creative Director: Jamie Marcovitch
Art Director: Michelle Orlandi
Copywriter: Emily Ferraro
Chief Strategy Officer: Matt Ball
Producer: Aimee Deparolis
Account Manager: Tishan Canagasaby
Business Team: Jessica Desantis
Account Handling: Niharika Chadha-Punn

Media: PHD Media

Production Company: Skin & Bones
Director: Taso Alexander
Executive Producer: Joan Bell
Line Producer: Natalie Panacci

Post Production & VFX: Darling VFX
Colourist: Kassi Bellamy
VFX Artists: Alexa Salsberg & Alyssa Schmidt
Executive Producer: Morgan Campbell

Editing: Saints Editorial
Editor: Julie Simmons
Executive Producer: Mackenzie Goodwin

Music & Sound: Berkeley Inc
Creative Director: Jared Kuemper
Executive Producer: Tyna Maerzke