Healthy eating sabotage is all around everyone. The battle is real. But Quest’s high protein, low sugar nachos cheese chips fit neatly into the brand’s It’s Basically Cheating promise. And Quest Nutrition by SG1, the specialist unit within Publicis Groupe creatively led by Leo New York, presents the dilemma and the solution in a supermarket story told with relatable humour.
The new campaign, Succumb to Your Instincts, dives into the psychology of the internal battle people face when choosing between indulgent cravings and healthy options. The campaign addresses a fundamental human truth – the constant mental negotiation between wanting something indulgent and making the healthy choice. Rather than positioning Quest as a compromise, the creative humorously encourages consumers to “succumb” to their cravings because Quest products deliver both indulgence and nutrition.
The work is running in the US across TV/streaming, digital, social posts, influencer social content and out-of-home, with additional extensions into audio and commerce spaces. The campaign achieved some of the highest testing scores the research company has seen and notably doesn’t rely on celebrity talent – instead letting the creative idea stand on its own merit. Leo New York employed an innovative production approach, using off-camera improv actors to generate authentic reactions from on-screen talent, and created enough modular content from a single shoot to fuel plenty of new content across multiple formats including 30-second, 15-second, and 6-second social spots in the future.
Stuart Heflin, general manager at Quest, stated, “This campaign captures something really authentic about how we make food decisions. Leo New York understood that we didn’t need to apologize for people’s cravings – we could celebrate them while showing how Quest lets you have both indulgence and best-in-class macros.”
Joe Mongognia, chief creative officer at Leo New York, added, “We all have that inner struggle with food choices. This campaign captures those struggles and confusion in a captivating way, while showing how Quest lets you satisfy both sides of that internal debate. The goal was to create work that was both cinematic and deeply relatable.”
Credits:
Client: The Simply Good Foods Company, Quest Nutrition
President and Chief Executive Officer: Geoff Tanner
SVP, General Manager Quest Brand Marketing: Stuart Heflin
VP, Quest Brand Marketing: Emily Johnston
Director, Creative Services: Nina Carbajal
