Kietaviškių: CSR Outperforms Regular Ads

Challenge

Kietaviškių greenhouses produce over 10 tonnes of oddly shaped vegetables annually. Unfortunately, strict EU rules mean these veggies can’t be sold in supermarkets, causing unnecessary food waste.

To tackle this, Kietaviškių led a legal change, allowing the sale of oddly shaped vegetables in Lithuanian supermarkets for the first time.

Our goals were:

Encourage shoppers to choose non-standard veggies, supporting the zero-waste initiative.
Create a social responsibility campaign that doesn’t evoke pity or guilt.

Positive impact

We turned oddly shaped cucumbers and tomatoes into fairy tale heroes, like Beauty and the Beast and The Ugly Duckling. This metaphor urged people to pick non-standard veggies and fight food waste.

The campaign was a hit, thanks to a major retail chain providing ad space on POS, social media, and through influencers. Outdoor and TV ads came at discounted rates, creating a buzz in the city as people hunted for billboards and shared their experiences online. Non-standard veggies sold out before the campaign ended.

This successful social responsibility effort not only changed attitudes toward food waste but also gained free advertising, significantly boosting brand awareness and love. Surveys revealed that Kietaviškių’s CSR ads garnered more attention than regular product ads and left people with a more positive impression.

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