Over 20 years ago, Perdue pioneered a way to raise chickens without feeding them antibiotics. They felt strongly that it was better for the chickens, better for consumers and better for the earth. So, when their biggest competitor recently resumed feeding their chickens antibiotics, Perdue had to send a wake-up call to America.

Introducing Chix Mix. While Perdue’s biggest rival was feeding their chickens animal byproducts and antibiotics in nearly every meal, Perdue doubled -down on their clean, all-vegetarian chicken feed. Made from 95% of what Perdue’s chickens actually eat, Chix Mix was corn, puffed wheat and edamame…plus a little BBQ seasoning just for the humans. Most important, it had no steroids, hormones, animal byproducts or antibiotics. Ever. So clean that people can eat it. Chix Mix was transparency in a snack, and on a small budget, it took off, forcing Americans to ask themselves, “What’s in my food’s food?”

We knew that busy, working moms care about making a healthy choice when shopping for chicken but they’re confused by the claim game. And when our biggest competitor claimed going back to using antibiotics was a positive, Perdue had to step in. Perdue doubled down on their all-vegetarian feed at a time when their biggest rival was outspending them 10:1. With an influencer and consumer strategy targeting busy, working moms, Chix Mix made it into the hands of our audience with a simple message, asking Americans to question what’s in their food’s food. It made America wake up and pay closer attention to the ingredients fed to the chicken they consume.

Chix Mix was designed to be transparency you could eat. Because, many Americans don’t ask themselves, “What’s in my food’s food?” Embracing the natural, humorous tension between the humble chicken feed and a poppy, fun snack food, Chix Mix was made to amuse with snack-forward design and earnest, honest packaging copy.

Chix Mix was given away online and delivered to influencers in a kit containing a reusable wooden chicken crate and a simple prompt: “What’s in your chicken’s chicken feed?” Chix Mix was groundbreaking as an animal feed turned human snack, bringing the feed directly to the consumers plates, bringing fresh attention to the importance of examining the full food chain. After all, we are what we eat, right? Perdue sure thinks so. That’s why they created Chix Mix — to force those shopping for chicken to take a closer look, ask harder questions and insist on cleaner chicken feed.

Chix Mix made big waves with 100% positive sentiment, and the “no antibiotics ever” messaging pulled through 100% of the work. It garnered 1 billion total earned media impressions through over 500 placements, with CNN leading the way then syndicating 30+ times in nationwide outlets. Posts promoting a Chix Mix giveaway surpassed goals by threefold, with supply selling out in under two minutes. But just as important as all the numbers and percentages was the social impact of drawing America’s attention to the subject of chicken feed. A rarely cared-about subject was top of mind in the news cycle, reminding people of the importance of understanding their food source, and their food source’s food. Furthermore, Chix Mix resulted in prompting Americans to insist that the ingredients fed to the chicken they buy are as clean and suitable as the plated chicken dinners they feed their family.