We asked kids what certain veggies looked like, what they made them think of. And we used 12 of the coolest names they invented on actual packaging in the stores, and in communication.

By renaming veggies with magical, fairytale-like names(co-created with kids). That’s why carrot became an orange rocket. We activated children’s phantasy and invited parents to present the veggies in a different, more appealing way. By more or less making kids forget they are eating veggies, they will actually taste them and eventually learn to eat them: a gnome trumpet goes down way easier than an oyster mushroom.

We asked kids what certain veggies made them think of, what they looked like to them. And we used 12 of the coolest names they invented to rename 12 veggies.

Carrots become orange rockets

Oyster mushrooms become gnome trumpets

Belgian andives become dragon teeth

Green beans become frog ski’s

Eggplants become Cherokee canoes

Zucchini become troll bats

Cherry tomatoes become clown’s noses

Peppers become treasure boxes

New potatoes become small meteorites

Those names were put on new packs, which replaced the ‘normal’ veggies in all 900 Delhaize stores across Belgium. The Magic Veggies were all over the fresh department. A press release was sent out in which the Magic veggies were positioned as a proofpoint of Delhaize’s ambition to help people to eat better. Belgium loved it, both the people and the media. We aired through national radio, OOH and print, supported by a strong digital and social campaign.

TV, radio, newspapers, online: everybody talked about the Magic veggies, unanimously positive about the fact that a supermarket was actually trying to help people with a real live problem, in an unpretentious and likeable way. Not just news media reported about it, the Magic Veggies were also spoofed in the popular talk show De Ideale Wereld and the biggest quality newspaper De Standaard spontaneously published a quiz about the Magic Veggies’ names. Generated advertising value of the launch was estimated at 123K€, generated editorial value at 247K€. We had a 151% sales increase and sold 2 million Magic Veggies in 2 weeks.

Not bad for a country with only 11 million inhabitants.