Several scientific studies had shown that if you eat conventional food, you have a number of different pesticides in your body – and that if you switch to organic food, the pesticides disappear within days.

Very few consumers knew about this. (Who'd tell them? Almost all food companies, and governments, are more or less invested in the conventional model of farming.)

So Coop conducted their own study. And filmed it, so the results could be presented in a more accessible way than a scientific report.

With the help of IVL, the Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Coop conducted an experiment:

The Palmbergs, an ordinary family that didn't eat organic food, tried eating 100 % organic for two weeks. Before they started urine samples were taken from all family members, revealing that they had a number of different pesticides in their bodies. Then they switched to organic food, new samples were taken and within days almost all traces of pesticides were gone.

The experiment was documented in a 90 second film that was posted on YouTube and Facebook, and e-mailed to customers and known supporters of organic food around the world. (This is a global issue, and much of the food Coop sells is imported from all around the world.)

The film has been viewed more than 40 million times on YouTube and Facebook, generating news coverage, blog articles and social media posts with a total reach of more than 2 billion.

In Sweden a survey showed that 57 % of those who had seen the film said it would make them buy more organic. Sales of organic food increased by 50 % over the period during which the film was released. The share of consumers who say they prefer shopping at Coop increased by 14 %. And Coop had their best year financially in 23 years.