Despite the ongoing rise in gun violence, America still lacks sensible gun control laws. One such issue is the fact that people are free to openly carry loaded guns in public. In the United States this is known as the ‘Open Carry Law’.

Because the US government has been slow to respond, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America has asked companies directly to create their own corporate policies that disallow carrying loaded guns in their stores. Many retailers like Starbucks and Target have now done so. However the largest grocery chain in America, Kroger, has remained silent.

So we launched ‘Groceries not guns’, a PR campaign and lobby effort to put pressure on Kroger to stop supporting the Open carry law and go gun-free.

Our core idea was to highlight existing store rules & policies, comparing what was already not allowed inside Kroger stores, with the absurd reality of what was: loaded guns.

Side by side visuals contrasting what wasn’t allowed in Kroger (skateboards, outside food, going shirtless) versus what was (loaded guns) were released as social posts, banner ads, and to online news media.

Actual calls to Kroger stores were recorded and released to online communities for sharing as well as rich media ads.

Film creative was deployed as pre-roll and posted on social networks.

Customer boycott receipts (from shopping at Kroger competitors) were posted in the ‘World’s Longest Receipt’ at groceriesnotguns.com

Over 2000 pieces of UGC social content created by participating community members.

‘Groceries not guns’ has generated more than 350M unique impressions from earned media alone. But more important than all the coverage is the direct impact it has had:

Over 1.5M individual responses, including 360,000 petition signatures, 16,000 complaint calls to Kroger and 120,000 new MDA member sign-ups.

Over $250,000 in lost Kroger (boycott) revenue posted by customers in first 48hrs at groceriesnotguns.com

Safeway/Albertsons, the #2 grocery chain, changes policy to become gun-free, among others.

Benenson Group national survey now shows 83% support for Kroger to prohibit guns.