How a ‘Spokesracoon’ Highlighted This Canadian Food Company’s Zero Waste Platform
Did you know that 58% of food in Canada is wasted? It’s a shocking stat, and one which, considering ongoing discussions around food insecurity, inflation, and expensive grocery prices across the country, ought not to be nearly as high as it is.
In response to this, Canadian company Goodfood has been advocating for a reduction in this percentage, working hard to cut food waste across its own meal kits and other offerings. And, in partnership with creative agency john st., the two have worked together to highlight this information, launching a 30-second spot at the 2023 Oscars introducing the brand’s new spokesperson… or more accurately, a ‘spokesraccoon’ puppet named Richard.
But, Richard came with a twist. Although he serves as a fun way to draw attention to a serious problem, he is very much an unusual brand ambassador. After all, what kind of brand ambassador picks the brand they’re repping as their own number one enemy? A raccoon disgruntled with a lack of food scraps to feast on - that’s who.
LBB’s Josh Neufeldt sat down with john st. art director Michelle Orlandi, copywriter Emily Ferraro, and Goodfood EVP of marketing Jennifer Stahlke, to learn more about how this campaign came to life.
LBB> What was the brief, and what immediate ideas came to mind?
Jennifer> The brief entailed launching Goodfood’s brand purpose. While we have typically focused a lot of our communication on showcasing the delicious meals and convenience that our meal kits offer, we wanted to ‘pull back the curtain’, so to speak, and tell people a little bit more about our values and beliefs when it comes to food.
Michelle & Emily> We were given a two-pronged brief. Step one was to create a purpose-led platform for Goodfood that had the staying power to live on for years to come. Step two was to launch said platform with a 30-second spot that stood out, heroised the main benefit of Goodfood (zero food waste), and didn’t feel like a typical anthem spot. Thus, ‘Be Good-er’ was born as an ownable rallying cry for people to make more sustainable choices when it comes to the food they eat. For this reason, it was important for ‘Be Good-er’ to feel welcoming yet a bit cheeky, with zero pretension. After all, no one likes a finger-wag.
Next, we developed a campaign concept that we wanted to centre around an unexpected spokesperson. From surly grandmas who were displeased about the lack of leftovers, to lonely tupperware now sitting unused in the dark crevices of a kitchen, we explored countless characters who could launch our ‘perfectly portioned’ message in a surprising way. But living in Toronto – we couldn’t not choose a raccoon. Everyone knows they’re the quintessential lovers of leftovers, so who would be more pissed to find green bins empty thanks to Goodfood?
LBB> Creating a spot to debut during the Oscars is no small task. Did the scale of the occasion impact the decision to feature a racoon?
Michelle & Emily> Having the spot premier during the Oscars was an incredible opportunity, and definitely gave us even more motivation to ensure our anti-hero, ‘Richard’, stood out in between other amazing commercials bound to air that night. Amidst the glamour of Hollywood, we loved the idea of a raccoon puppet introducing himself and breaking away from the clutter of more traditional TV spots. It was also pretty kismet that ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ was dominating the scene, making Richard even more relevant as ‘Raccacoonie’ re-entered cultural conversation.
LBB> The campaign is built on the information that 58% of food in Canada is wasted. What was the research process behind this insight, and were there other key takeaways?
Michelle & Emily> The food waste statistic was a gem in our brief. Though it wasn’t the initial main message, we found it a staggering figure and realised early on it was a problem that the majority of Canadians would be both surprised to learn of, and also keen to join us in solving. Though ‘Be Good-er’ is a mission to better all sustainability processes within the food industry, for our launch, we wanted to be as singular and clear as possible, so we decided to go all in on this one shocking statistic.
Jennifer> Reducing food waste has always been a core value of our organisation, and just one of the many ways we strive to ‘Be Good-er’ on the regular. Everything from how we source our food and ingredients to how it’s delivered to our customers is considered. Food waste however, is something we can all relate to, and therefore, became a key focus for the launch work.
LBB> Tell us more about ‘Richard’! How did he end up with the name he did?
Emily> When considering how to bring Richard to life, we knew we didn’t want him to be a real raccoon. We imagined a character who was both memorable and ownable, that could also deliver our ‘Good-er’ message. With this in mind, we knew making a scraggly, slightly irate puppet character was the way to go. Furthermore, ever since laying eyes on ‘Nanalan’, Michelle had wanted to make a puppet. Dream fulfilled!
Michelle> For his name, we knew we wanted something with an ‘R’. We’re just suckers for alliteration. At first, we used the name Richard as a placeholder – as that’s the name of Emily’s partner. But as it always goes, the name started to feel right, and then nothing else could take its place. Sorry, human Rich!
LBB> Who directed the spot, and what made them perfect for the job?
Michelle & Emily> Taso Alexander from Skin and Bones directed ‘Raccumentary’. This type of idea always gets better with more creative minds in the mix, and he was a perfect partner for it. From the start, Taso was brimming with immediate love of the character, and couldn’t wait to develop Richard’s story further. Together, we had a great time brainstorming this unique character, and building the intricacies of Richard’s personality, down to the littlest way he droops his snout when he’s given up.
LBB> And who did you cast to voice Richard?
Michelle & Emily> Finding the right voice was obviously a huge component to bringing Richard’s personality to life. We needed someone who had the range to go from crotchety to desperate to resigned, all while being a little weirdly loveable. Once we heard Ren Olivieri’s voice, we knew we’d found our guy! We definitely had fun at Berkeley during our record, playing with all sorts of strange raccoon sounds that never made it to the final. We still got ‘em though – ready and waiting for Richard 2.0!
LBB> Where did you shoot, and how long did it take?
Michelle & Emily> We shot in a single family home in Midtown, Toronto that was bursting with charm and personality. It was on just the type of street that you’d imagine would once be lined with bins brimming with bougie food scraps, but now, is slim pickings for the raccoon community. We then packed up everything and moved to Pie in the Sky studio, where we shot all the interview scenes.
LBB> What was the on-set experience like? Any anecdotes to share?
Michelle & Emily> It was a full day of so many memorable moments! But the one theme was probably everyone’s obsession with the puppet. People’s love of Richard was palpable – he even had his own personal wrangler whose sole job was to care for him and fix his hair with a variety of brushes throughout the day, styling him between camera-ready in the studio, and a little more ragged when he’s featured during his hard times.
LBB> How did you work with Puppet Island to bring Richard to life?
Michelle & Emily> Puppet Island was amazing to work with. As we wanted to create a character that instantly read as a raccoon, yet had enough uniqueness and quirk that he’d be memorable, it was a rather open brief. We went back and forth through emails with progress images, but as nothing could be sewn on until approved, his features were only properly set at the very last moment. We even visited Artscape Gibraltar Point on the Toronto Islands (where Puppet Island’s workshop is) to spend the last working day making sure all his little details felt right. It was amazing how moving one eye 1 millimetre to the left would change his personality completely! It was in these moments that his real charm came to life. And, it was definitely a fast and furious, all hands on deck process. His nose was still being sewn on at seven in the morning on the shoot day. But despite the tight timelines and ‘slight’ stress that came from the experience of creating our first ever puppet, we count ourselves so lucky to have experienced it with all the talent we got to work with.
LBB> Equally important was showcasing the quality of Goodfood’s offerings. How did you work with the director to shoot the food, and how did you choose which dish to show off?
Michelle & Emily> Though we obviously just wanted to feature Richard as much as possible, we knew it was important to showcase Goodfood with delicious, fresh, wholesome looking food. The cooking moment was showcased with a shaky whip pan that not only communicated how simple Goodfood recipes are, but also cemented that the scene was being witnessed from Richard’s POV - its jittery focus making the viewer feel like he had the hunger shakes.
LBB> The ‘Good-er, it’s not even a word’ ending is super funny. What made this the perfect closer?
Michelle & Emily> We wrote many, many scripts, with many, many alt jokes throughout. This one line was the original, and always had the best reaction. To us, it was the perfect way to allow ‘Good-er’ it’s moment to shine, while also reflecting Richard’s final feelings on the situation - a mix of frustration, despair, and just being f*&^ing over it all.
LBB> What challenges have you faced during this project? How did you overcome them?
Michelle & Emily> It was our first time creating a puppet for a commercial and working with a puppet maker. This was a totally novel process for us. With a completely different feedback process than we’re used to and a crazy condensed timeline, our last week of pre-production was definitely a stressful one. We were lucky to have clients who had faith in us. They didn’t even see Richard until the day of our shoot! However, overcoming the challenges of accepting the unknown became easier when we reminded ourselves we selected our creative partners for a reason; the puppet makers were so talented, and we put all our faith in them. Glad we did!
LBB> Are there any aspects you’re particularly proud of?
Michelle & Emily> We’re proud to have made an ownable character that people seem to be super receptive to. Amidst all the spokespeople out there, it’s refreshing to have one that is almost MORE charming and interesting, the more they speak about the brand. This gives us the flex to have a lot of fun in the future, even while saying super tactical things. We love Richard!
LBB> How have people reacted to this campaign?
Michelle & Emily> We’re super pleased that people have reacted well, and it seems to have broken through the clutter. It’s the kind of spot that our families and friends all actually notice and love. And isn’t that so much better? To make ads that real people, not ad people, actually like?
Jennifer> The reactions have been very positive. There is a lot of love for our ‘spokesracoon’ as he proves to be an engaging character.
LBB> How does this campaign fit into Goodfood’s plans for 2023?
Jennifer> Goodfood is on a journey to do ‘Good-er’, and is committed to real change. Here are just a few of the principles we implement:
- We’re prioritising working with suppliers who farm and fish sustainably.
- We don’t re-package food multiple times like grocery stores, saving on material waste.
- We’re continuously improving our packaging with the goal of it all being 100% recyclable or compostable.
- We pre-portion our seasonal ingredients so no food is wasted.
- We’ve introduced new, plastic-free, water-resistant isothermal box liners, which reduce our plastic waste contribution by 21 metric tonnes - equivalent to more than 2,400,000 plastic grocery bags.
These and more efforts to ‘Be Good-er’ will continue through 2023 and beyond.
LBB> Is there anything you’d like to add?
Jennifer> This is just the beginning for us. We hope to see Richard resonate with consumers and have him pop up in more places to rant against Goodfood!
