Sesame Street and the Produce Industry Team Up to Fight Childhood Obesity
One of the toughest challenges in the fight against childhood obesity is how healthy foods must compete with sugary, salty, fatty snacks for kids' attention. Just turn on the TV on any given Saturday and you can see the sort of foods that are being promoted to children during commercial breaks. It's incredibly difficult for the produce industry, which operates on
thin margins, to keep up with the marketing of processed foods, putting them at a serious disadvantage until now.
Sesame Workshop has agreed to give two years of free character licensing to the Produce Marketing Association thanks, in part, to the work of Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign to combat childhood obesity. This means that starting as early as mid-2014, stickers of Elmo, Big Bird and other beloved characters will appear on produce in grocery stores all across the country.
But how much of a difference will this make? According to research, "If you put an Elmo sticker on an apple, twice as many kids will choose the apple over a cookie, compared with the same choice sans sticker." This sort of marketing tactic has been proven to have a powerful effect on produce other than fruit too. 3 years ago, the Vidalia Onion Committee used Shrek licensing for marketing to kids (remember that famous scene that likened ogres to onions because of their layers?) Sales increased by 50 percent.
Bryan Silbermann, president of the PMA said he thinks there's potential for Sesame Street characters to be on everything in the produce section. As long as the produce is fresh, has no added sugar, and isn't a choking hazard, it's fair game to be included.
I think this is such a creative way to encourage more fresh produce consumption in children. I hope to see more of these marketing partnerships in the near future and I can't wait to see Sesame Street stickers in the store soon!
- AP
Sesame Workshop has agreed to give two years of free character licensing to the Produce Marketing Association thanks, in part, to the work of Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign to combat childhood obesity. This means that starting as early as mid-2014, stickers of Elmo, Big Bird and other beloved characters will appear on produce in grocery stores all across the country.
But how much of a difference will this make? According to research, "If you put an Elmo sticker on an apple, twice as many kids will choose the apple over a cookie, compared with the same choice sans sticker." This sort of marketing tactic has been proven to have a powerful effect on produce other than fruit too. 3 years ago, the Vidalia Onion Committee used Shrek licensing for marketing to kids (remember that famous scene that likened ogres to onions because of their layers?) Sales increased by 50 percent.
Bryan Silbermann, president of the PMA said he thinks there's potential for Sesame Street characters to be on everything in the produce section. As long as the produce is fresh, has no added sugar, and isn't a choking hazard, it's fair game to be included.
I think this is such a creative way to encourage more fresh produce consumption in children. I hope to see more of these marketing partnerships in the near future and I can't wait to see Sesame Street stickers in the store soon!
- AP
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