Veg Power, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky Media announced today that their multi award-winning Eat Them To Defeat Them campaign is returning to TV screens and primary schools across the UK in mid-February. Now in its sixth year, the campaign, originally launched by ITV and Veg Power and proven to increase children’s vegetable consumption, aims to build on the behaviour change success achieved in previous years. It will launch during the final of ITV’s The Masked Singer on 17 February, 2024.
80% of children in the UK are not eating enough vegetables and worryingly a third of kids are eating less than a portion per day.1 This major public health issue will not only have a negative impact on many aspects of children’s health, but it has huge ramifications later in life. Research indicates that poor diet in childhood not only disadvantages them as kids but it extends into adulthood, resulting in increased healthcare costs and reduced productivity.
The Eat Them To Defeat Them campaign inspires kids to eat more veg by combining the power of advertising with a highly effective schools’ programme. It brings together a huge alliance including TV advertising, celebrities, supermarkets, chefs, schools, communities and families. Since it launched in 2019, over 1.5 million different children from 4,884 primary and special schools have benefited from the schools’ programme.
The 2024 Eat Them To Defeat Them campaign is an alliance between ITV, Channel 4 and Sky Media who have collectively contributed over £18m of advertising to this campaign since it began. This year’s campaign, developed pro bono by adam&eveDDB. The schools’ programme, launching on Monday 19th February, is set to reach 637,000 children from 2,370 schools across the UK, including all primary schools in Wales with funding support from the Welsh Government.
Dan Parker, Chief Executive, Veg Power said, “Our evaluation has shown that this campaign is having a much-needed positive impact on children’s diets and we can’t wait for more children and their families to benefit.”
Susie Braun, Director of Social Purpose, ITV said: “Eat Them To Defeat Them has continuously proved to be an effective way of encouraging healthier eating habits in children, while making it fun. ITV is proud to have continued this partnership once again.”
Verica Djurdjevic, Chief Revenue Officer, Channel 4, said: “We’re delighted that around one third of parents who watched last year’s Eat Them To Defeat Them TV ad report eating more vegetables as a result. We look forward to building on this success in the sixth year of this partnership with ITV, Sky Media and Veg Power.”
Brett Aumuller, Managing Director, Sky Media said: “Eat Them To Defeat Them is a brilliant example of how creative, multi-channel campaigns can generate conversation, inspire change and make a real difference to people’s lives.”
For more information:
www.eatthemtodefeatthem.com