NATALIA FREDERICKS

Wholly Veggie: Haha You Just Ate Vegetables

Someone needed to say it: vegetables don’t taste good. But when Wholly Veggie started making plant based junk food, vegetables became widely consumable, for once. Our campaign, "Ha ha, you just ate vegetables", flips the narrative on its head. Instead of pretending veggies are "fun and cool," we owned the truth: veggies are kinda gross. But Wholly Veggie transforms them into something you actually want to eat. Our campaign unapologetically leaned into the idea that it’s okay to trick people (or yourself) into eating vegetables, because at the end of the day, they’re good for you — and thanks to Wholly Veggie, they’re actually delicious. Sure, we pissed a few people off, but making the wrong people mad made the right people love us.

WE MADE FILMS that trolled meat-eating veggie haters, like kids and partners.

WE MADE NEW FANS out of parents by trolling their kids.

We turned our songs into a veggie-hating soundtrack.

WE REIMAGINED THE BRAND by borrowing from the playful campaign tone and embracing an eye-catching world.

IN A REVERSE-TROLL ON TWITTER, veggie haters were found and recruited, instead of shamed.

AND IT WORKED. Wholly Veggie experienced significant sales growth following the campaign, with mentions of "booming business" and being included in Fast Company's "Brands That Matter" list, indicating a positive sales trajectory for the company. Plus, people love us.

EXCEPT FOR THIS PERSON, THEY HATED US.