Why do so many Americans despise broccoli? I'll tell you why: they think it sucks. Here is what a few people had to say when asked to describe their feelings toward the vegetable: "Over cooked, soggy." "Hiding under the cheese." "Told not to leave the table until I finish it."
I pulled these quotes from this week's New York Times Magazine feature, Broccoli's Image Makeover: What Will Make Us Want It?". The article looks at American eating habits, particularly our addiction to food that tastes good but makes us fat and sick. And, it leaves little doubt that the war for American mindshare has been won with billions of marketing dollars by fast food companies and the like.
Sexy Broccoli?
The Times wondered whether a marketing campaign, created by the same firm behind some of the most successful campaigns for Coke, Pepsi and others, could use the same triggers to make broccoli appealing. After all, under the right conditions it is delicious. The resulting work, done for free by the agency, was impressive.
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A few images from the Victors and Spoils Campaign
Celebrity endorsements, vegetable wars, and powerful imagery were used to highlight the value of broccoli. Social media, guerilla marketing and crowdsourcing could all be implemented to "substantially increase sales...with far smaller sums [of money]," according to Bryan Silberman, President of the Produce Marketing Association, the main industry group for produce growers and distributers in the US.
Of course, there are major institutional hurdles, which the article details at length: junk food is cheaper, has a better "mouth feel" (tastes better) and is directly supported by big ag. It is overwhelmingly more difficult for a farmer to grow vegetables, broccoli included, over corn and the other commodity crops. The hurdles are major - but who knows? Maybe a little creative marketing can lead to more broccoli on American plates. That would be a win.
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