Dive Brief:

• Hellmann’s has launched a “Save Our Sandwiches” (S.O.S.) campaign to spread awareness around regenerative farming practices for growing crops like soybeans, a key ingredient in its mayonnaise product, which is often added to sandwiches, per a press release. 
• The effort connects soil erosion to the looming “extinction” of four sandwiches often filled with mayo —  the BLT, turkey club, Italian sub and egg salad — and includes a microsite that doles out coupons and plushie sandwiches. 
• Campaign print and digital out-of-home (OOH) ads mourn the looming “death date” of mayonnaise and the sandwiches it compliments. The activation, tied to the brand’s $30 million commitment to regenerative farming, follows other purpose-driven marketing plays.

Dive Insight:

The latest effort from Hellmann’s is backed by brand research revealing that two-thirds of Americans believe that sandwiches taste better with mayo, and 95% eat sandwiches regularly. However, soil erosion simultaneously is making it more difficult for farmers to grow soybean crops — a key ingredient in the brand’s product — a trend that could lead to “sandwiches as we know and love them today” becoming extinct by 2043, per release details. 

Accordingly, the marketer’s “Save Our Sandwiches” effort pushes for regenerative farming practices in an attempt to turn back the clock and protect the future of both mayo and the sandwiches it compliments. Key to its effort is a microsite that invites consumers from April 17-24 to symbolically adopt a mayo-filled sandwich in the form of a plushie, a move that nods to how someone might sponsor or “adopt” an endangered species. All applicants will receive a digital adoption certificate and $1 coupon for any Hellmann’s product. Randomly selected applicants will receive one of the plushie sandwiches in an adoption kit complete with a bottle of mayo. 

"The concept of 'adopting' a sandwich is a relatable way to educate and help people understand the risk of endangerment, which is why we thought to use this concept and invite our fans to help support their favorite mayo-centric sandwiches and demonstrate the positive impact regenerative agriculture could play in safeguarding the future of mayonnaise," said Chris Symmes, senior marketing director, dressings, at Unilever North America, in a release.

Additionally, the Unilever-owned brand teamed with creative agency VML and media agency Mindshare for print and digital OOH ads in Chicago and Cincinnati, Ohio, throughout the month of April that mourn the looming “death date” of mayonnaise and, subsequently, mayo-filled sandwiches. In a similar move, the brand last month launched a pop-up sandwich shop in New York designed to give consumers a comedic taste of what a world without sandwich ingredients would look like.

The move from Hellmann’s follows its $30 million commitment over the next five years to help farmers in the U.S. and Canada adopt regenerative farming practices and techniques like cover cropping. Without such practices, the equivalent of one soccer field of soil is lost every five seconds because of erosion, per the release. As of last fall, the brand had supported over 700 farmers in Iowa, resulting in over 142,000 acres planted with cover crops. 

Hellmann’s has often factored purpose-driven efforts into its marketing, despite parent Unilever broadly reassessing the tactic that it helped popularize, stating that it will not force-fit purpose on all of its brands. Hellmann’s returned to the Super Bowl this year for the fourth consecutive year with another spot focused on its “Make Taste, Not Waste” initiative. The ad featured actor and “Saturday Night Live” alum Kate McKinnon and cat actor Chipmunk, who played the role of a budding celebrity known as Mayo Cat.