Prepare To Be Marketed To

Companies, celebrities, athletes and foundations launch new fruit and vegetable brand aimed at taking over America's taste buds

Jessica Alba, Kristen Bell, John Cena, Victor Cruz, Stephen Curry, Nick Jonas, Colin Kaepernick, Cam Newton and other celebrities and athletes support #TeamFNV

News provided by

Partnership for a Healthier America

Feb 26, 2015, 11:00 ET

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today at the Partnership for a Healthier America's (PHA) 2015 Building a Healthier Future Summit, a collaboration of companies, celebrities, athletes and foundations launched FNV—a brand focused on increasing consumption and sales of fruits and vegetables among teens and moms.

Launched with a teaser video featuring a glimpse of the campaign's expected creative, the video included celebrities and athletes who support FNV, including actors Kristen Bell and Jessica Alba, WWE Superstar John Cena, musician Nick Jonas, New York Giants Wide Receiver Victor Cruz, Golden State Warriors Point Guard Stephen Curry, Memphis Grizzlies Forward Jeff Green, San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Carolina Panthers Quarterback Cam Newton.

"FNV was inspired by big consumer brands, whose tactics are relentless, compelling, catchy and drive an emotional connection with their products," said PHA CEO Lawrence A. Soler. "We want to do the same thing for fruits and veggies, which have never had an opportunity to act like a big brand. Until now."

The look of the campaign is as fresh, colorful, light and crisp as the fruits and veggies it's promoting, leaning on strong typographic design with fruit and vegetable accents to relay self-aware, tongue-in-cheek headlines. It was created by award-winning advertising agency Victors & Spoils.

"FNV seeks to create a cultural movement behind fruits and vegetables—one that parents will want to support, celebrities will seek to endorse and kids will find intriguing enough to get behind," said Andrew Nathan, chief marketing officer for Victors & Spoils. "Using our freshly-minted list of celebrity endorsers, we'll look to roll out in-your-face marketing tactics that go toe-to-toe with other big iconic brands. The days of hum-drum health messages and finger-wagging PSAs are over."

Founding supporters of FNV are companies and other organizations that believe in the need to market fruits and vegetables in a whole new way. They include:

Avocados From Mexico—a not-for-profit marketing organization created to promote the year-round usage of fresh avocados from Mexico, the leading supplier of avocados in the U.S. representing nearly 70 percent of all avocado volume.
Bolthouse Farms, a division of the Campbell Soup Company – one of the United States' leading producers of carrots, as well as super-premium refrigerated products, including fresh juice beverages and yogurt-based dressings.
The Honest Company—a leading lifestyle brand whose growing portfolio of 100+ products addresses the ever-growing category needs of baby, personal care, home care, vitamins & supplements, and gear & accessories.
Produce for Better Health—whose goal is to foster an environment where people can include more fruits and vegetables at every eating occasion, which is achieved through private/public sector collaboration.
Produce Marketing Association—which represents companies from every segment of the global fresh produce and floral supply chain, from field to fork.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation—the nation's largest health and health care foundation, which strives to build a national Culture of Health that will enable all to live longer, healthier lives now and for generations to come.
sweetgreen—sweetgreen is a seasonal kitchen dedicated to smartly-sourced, seasonal food and the balance between work, life, food, and community. sweetgreen has locations throughout the DC area, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston.
Victors & Spoils—a full-service advertising agency based in Boulder, CO., that was founded on an "open" philosophy. The agency builds uniquely qualified teams enabling collaboration between in-house creative teams and creative people everywhere.
WWE – a global entertainment company that delivers family-friendly programming year-round to a worldwide audience, and uses the power of its brand and platforms to support important social issues.

The campaign's first year will launch nationally and in two lead markets later this spring—Fresno, California and Hampton Roads, Va. In-market activations will include digital, print and out-of-home advertising; sponsorships of youth sports leagues and teams; local business and retail activations; and activations at local events. Additionally, a robust research plan will accompany FNV, measuring sales of fresh, frozen, canned and dried in the lead markets, consumption in both markets as well as nationally, and awareness, recall and resonance testing.

Find FNV here:
Instagram: @teamFNV
Twitter: @teamFNV
Facebook: www.facebook.com/teamFNV
Web: www.teamFNV.com

About FNV
Buckle Up America. For years, fruits and veggies stood by passively as the marketing machine cranked full throttle, selling you everything from shoes to barbecues to shiny new sports cars. But now, we're officially joining the party. Taking over billboards and airwaves. Enlisting athletes and celebs. Shamelessly pushing peaches and sweet potatoes onto the public. FNV is here, America. Prepare to be marketed to. Visit www.teamFNV.com for more information.

The Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) is devoted to working with the private sector to ensure the health of our nation's youth by solving the childhood obesity crisis. In 2010, PHA was created in conjunction with – but independent from – First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! effort. PHA is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that is led by some of the nation's most respected health and childhood obesity experts. PHA brings together public, private and nonprofit leaders to broker meaningful commitments and develop strategies to end childhood obesity. Most important, PHA ensures that commitments made are commitments kept by working with unbiased, third parties to monitor and publicly report on the progress our partners are making. For more information about PHA, please visit www.aHealthierAmerica.org and follow PHA on Twitter @PHAnews.

SOURCE Partnership for a Healthier America