CARREFOUR | ACT FOR FOOD | 2020
They Broke the Law to Change the Law / CARREFOUR "ACT FOR FOOD"
A supermarket broke the law, and ended up changing the law. And for that, it won the Grand Prix at Cannes. This is what it looks like when an ad actually moves society.
The problem
Carrefour was a big supermarket chain that had long been criticized as one of the villains of the food industry. Under the EU's seed laws at the time, 97% of traditional seed varieties were technically illegal, and farmers couldn't plant as many as 20,000 different kinds of seeds. In 2018, Carrefour opened a "Black Supermarket" that openly sold these illegal vegetables, putting pressure on lawmakers to change the rules. In 2019, the EU loosened the regulations.
The insight
The agency Marcel Paris landed on a flipped idea: being big isn't a bad thing. Only a retailer this size could take on a fight this big. That thinking became the foundation for ACT FOR FOOD, an initiative that would keep running for years afterward.
The idea
Cutting back on pesticides and antibiotics, using blockchain so customers could trace where food came from, requiring surveillance cameras in slaughterhouses, and paying farmers to help them switch to organic farming. The actual work was quiet and serious. But instead of making the ads feel like a lecture, they made it all look beautiful and aspirational.
What happened
Sales of fruits and vegetables rose 5%, the stock price rose 9%, and 2,000 farmers switched to organic farming. In 2021, the campaign won the first-ever Grand Prix in Cannes Lions' newly created Creative Business Transformation category.
Afterthought
An ad that changed an actual law—I'm not even sure you can still call that "advertising." A supermarket once cast as the villain ended up leading the way toward a better food future. And here's the thing: this story, which started back in 2018, is still going. The fact that it isn't finished yet is what makes it hit so hard.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Grand Prix 2020
