Dive Brief:

• Welch’s Fruit Snacks Tuesday (May 14) launched its largest-ever ad campaign, “Wholly Fruit,” that includes the brand’s first TV commercial, per details shared with Marketing Dive.
• Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay serves as the snack’s first “CFO” — or chief fruit officer — and appears in the TV creative. Ramsay will also play a key role in furthering Welch’s Fruit Snacks’ educational Whole Fruit initiative.
• The campaign, made with Gut Miami, will roll out nationwide over the summer across broadcast, digital and social channels. Messaging conveys how Welch’s Fruit Snacks uses the “whole fruit,” or every edible part of the fruit, making it the superior choice over competitors.

Dive Insight:

Welch’s Fruit Snacks is highlighting its commitment to using what it calls whole fruit, or all parts of the fruit including the peel, skin and pulp, as the main or primary ingredient in its snack products. “Wholly Fruit” is timed to the appointment of Ramsay, a chef known for having notoriously high standards, as the brand’s first-ever chief fruit officer. The celebrity partnership could help the PIM Brands product communicate its value proposition to the growing number of consumers seeking better-for-you products.

The largest-ever campaign from the 24-year-old brand includes its debut TV commercials, which star Ramsay. One 30-second spot serves as an introduction to Ramsay as “CFO.” It features the chef in a grocery aisle criticizing a generic box of “fruit-flavored snacks” for its lack of real fruit before recommending Welch’s Fruit Snacks to a shopper. The ad features voiceover from PIM Brands CEO Michael Rosenberg, who announces the new hire. Another 30-second ad follows a similar theme as Ramsay stocks a family’s pantry with Welch’s Fruit Snacks.

In addition, Ramsay is promoting Welch’s Fruit Snacks’ Whole Fruit initiative, which seeks to educate consumers about the distinction between true fruit snacks and fruit-flavored snacks. Messaging doubles down on how Welch’s Fruit Snacks are made with whole fruit, while fruit-flavored snacks use limited fruit-related ingredients, like juice and concentrate.

Ahead of the campaign’s official launch, Welch’s Fruit Snacks teased the effort with out-of-home billboards and “wild postings” that depicted its fruit snacks alongside fruit stickers similar to those found on real fruit in the grocery store. A Welch’s Fruit Snacks “Fruit Truck” also popped up in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City to offer consumers free fruit snacks and additional items.

Welch’s Fruit Snacks named Gut Miami its U.S. creative agency of record in February, deeping a relationship with the shop. The two previously collaborated on a campaign last year that starred Kristin Chenoweth and was based around a children’s storybook about how it’s okay for parents to sneak a bite of their kids’ fruit snacks.