Change4Life is today set to unveil a new campaign, which aims to show the ‘hidden nasties’ in food, showing there is more than a wine glass of fat in a large pizza.
The Change4Life campaign, created by Aardman, will launch tonight during Coronation Street on ITV, as well as a ‘healthy food takeover’ ad break - created by M&C Saatchi - featuring ads ads from Asda, Quorn, Uncle Ben’s, the Co-Operative Food and Cravendale.
Tim Duffy, chairman and CEO at M&C Saatchi UK Group, said: “The new Change4Life advert brings to life the hidden dangers in unhealthy food and fizzy drinks, and the consequential health risks. It encourages people to take simple steps to ‘Be Food Smart’ this New Year. For the first time in this long running campaign, the advert combines animated characters with the real world.”
Sheila Mitchell, Department of Health director of marketing, said:“This is first time ITV has teamed up with us for an ad takeover. We have worked closely with partner organisations including ASDA fresh fish and Uncle Ben’s rice to highlight how easy it is to eat well on a budget.
“The takeover closes with a reminder to sign up to Change4life to receive a free meal mixer.”
It is hoped that the ads help people to understand the ‘hidden nasties’ in their food, and includes a range of healthy eating tools and information from recipes to money-off vouchers.
Those that sign up to the campaign will also get a range of offers including a free 2 litre bottle of Cravendale milk and money off Quorn Best Ever Mince or Chicken style pieces, Schwartz spices and seasoning and Robinson’s Fruit Shoot My-5.
Commenting on the new campaign, brand manager for Cravendale, Sophie Macaulay, said: “Cravendale is proud to support the new Be Food Smart campaign from Change4Life to encourage people to eat healthier. Making small changes to your eating habits, such as switching whole milk for semi-skimmed milk, is a quick and easy way to reduce your fat intake without compromising on flavour.
“Being part of ITV’s first all healthy ad break is an honour and we hope the viewers will take note of the unique ad break to change their diet and nutrition for the better.”
Public Health Minister Anna Soubry said: “Making healthier, balanced meals on a budget can be a challenge for families. This new Change4Life campaign offers families free healthy recipes and money off those much needed cupboard essentials to encourage everyone to try healthy alternatives.
“Thanks to the continuing success of Change4Life, a million mums have changed their behaviour. But England has one of the highest rates of obesity in Europe with over 60 per cent of adults and a third of 10 and 11 year olds overweight or obese.
“We want to make it easy for everyone to keep track of what they eat and make healthier choices. That is why we are also developing a simple and clear system for front of pack labelling that everyone can use.”
The campaign comes as a new survey reveals the nations lack of knowledge about the food they eat, with 50 per cent not knowing there are 11 lumps of sugar in one can of cola.