Loud Looks For Good Eggs In Caged Egg Campaign

LOUD, in partnership with its long-standing client, Animals Australia, today launches a campaign to highlight the number of cage eggs still being purchased by consumers.

Despite increased awareness of the suffering of hens in battery cages, nearly half of all eggs purchased in supermarkets are still cage eggs. While increased concern about animal welfare has driven significant change in recent years, there is a segment of the population which hasn’t been swayed on welfare grounds.

LOUD had to develop a new narrative to change behaviour. It wanted ethically conscious people, aka good eggs, to put social pressure on those bad eggs who still fill their supermarket trolleys with cage eggs.

Public campaigns on this issue have so far only focused on ethical and welfare concerns. This message has only reached a part of the population so it was felt a different approach was needed.

The agency needed to reach people who cannot be swayed on welfare grounds. Some 85 per cent of women for example say they think battery cages are cruel and should be banned however half of eggs sold in supermarkets are cage eggs. There is a huge disconnect between what people say they think and what they eventually do. The agency had a real opportunity to use social norms to address this challenge.

LOUD was also aware that many people struggle to emotionally connect with hens, despite the fact they share the capacity of any other animal to suffer – dogs, cats, horses, whales, pigs etc. Rather than rely on evoking empathy for hens, the agency wanted to make purchasing cage eggs socially unacceptable. One important insight is that cage egg purchasing is not a matter of socioeconomics. Consumer research reveals that values will trump price for people across all income brackets.

LOUD’s cage eggs campaign taps into anti-social behaviour that happens everyday at your local supermarket and creates a connection to the cage eggs sold via a giant cage egg with no moral compass. The tone was key. Humour is a powerful way to emphasise the bad egg’s anti-social behaviour but it also arms supermarket judges to shake their heads at the bad eggs in their midst.

Animal welfare and poorly treated battery hens has been a narrative that many people have been exposed to. Taking the moral high ground by making purchasing cage eggs socially awkward led to a creatively fresh approach into a well-understood problem.

“LOUD has created yet another campaign with Cultural Currency. By using the term ‘bad egg’ that is part of our everyday vernacular we are arming ethically-conscious consumers to pass on judgment in a humorous and powerful way,” said Lorraine Jokovic, CEO.

Lisa Chalk, communications director for Animals Australia added, “To their absolute credit, with ‘Bad Egg’, LOUD has really pushed the boundaries as to what a campaign against animal cruelty can look like. Creating social change is all about being bold, taking risks and forging a path where there isn’t one. This campaign ticks all those boxes.”

“Here we employ off-beat humour to remind consumers that if big retailers won’t make changes to their buying habits, they can make it for them. Hence our campaign sign-off line, ‘If you don’t buy them, they won’t sell them’,” Steven Thomson, ECD LOUD added

The campaign will cover TV, OOH, Digital and an online component that involves the bad egg continuing his behavior into the social media realm.

LOUD team:

Steven Thomson – Executive creative director/Writer

Gerry Cyron – Head of Planning and Innovation

Leoni Simon – Planner

Paul Bennell Creative director

Kiah Barker – Art director

Oliver Drummond – Senior account manager

Steve Dube – Agency producer

Agency Partners:

Director – Ben Nott @ World Wide Mind

Production House – Heckler

Media – Chaos media

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