Veg Power, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky Media will reinstate the ‘Eat Them To Defeat Them’ campaign, bringing it back to UK screens and schools.
The campaign, which was devised to inspire children to eat more veg through a combination of advertising and a programme that includes celebrities, supermarkets, chefs, schools, and families, will return to TVs on Saturday 17 February.
For this year’s creative theme, ‘The Big Chomp’, children will be encouraged to defeat the veg one bite at a time with supporting visuals and activities.
The TV launch will take place during the final of The Masked Singer on ITV, while an accompanying schools programme will launch on the following Monday.
Developed pro bono by adam&eveDDB, Eat Them To Defeat Them 2024 is set to reach 637,000 children from 2,370 schools across the UK, including all primary schools in Wales due to funding support from the Welsh Government.
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With around 80% of children in the UK not eating enough vegetables and a third of kids eating less than a portion per day, the Eat Them To Defeat Them campaign was devised to inspire them to eat more veg through a combination of advertising and a programme that includes celebrities, supermarkets, chefs, schools, and families.
Since its launch in 2019, over 1.5 million children from 4,884 primary and special schools have benefited from the Eat Them To Defeat Them’s schools’ programme, which is sponsored by major supermarket and food brands, such as Aldi, Birds Eye, Co-op, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.
ITV, Channel 4 and Sky Media have collectively contributed over £18 million of advertising to this campaign since its inception.
Channel 4 chief revenue officer Verica Djurdjevic said: “Channel 4 has long championed programming that supports viewers to make informed choices around food, health and wellbeing”.
“It is clear that TV advertising has an equally vital role to play in advancing health issues and inspiring positive choices.”
Originally launched by ITV and Veg Power six years ago, Eat Them To Defeat Them has proven its success in increasing children’s vegetable consumption.
Results from the campaign’s recent five-year evaluation confirmed its positive effect on children’s long-term vegetable eating habits, as 53% of parents with children in the schools’ programme reported an increase in the volume of vegetables consumed as well as the variety.
Veg Power chief executive Dan Parker 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”.
