Hellmann's Shows How Fighting Holiday Food Waste is as Simple as Putting Leftovers 'Between 2 Slices' and Adding Some Mayo"

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Nov 21, 2023, 09:34 ET

Hellmann's partners with Cannes Award-winning animation agency, Illusion CGI Studio, to inspire people to reimagine their holiday leftovers with simple-yet-impactful creative advertising.

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., Nov. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - During celebratory moments like Thanksgiving and other key seasonal holiday events, food waste increases due to an excess of leftovers. In fact, 50% of Americans and 44% of Canadians throw out leftover food following holidays and large family gatherings¹, contributing to nearly 305 million pounds of food thrown away each year during Thanksgiving alone².

To address this seasonal food waste problem, the brand is debuting Between 2 Slices, a print and digital out of home advertising campaign inspiring millions of North Americans to fight food waste through sandwiches. Yes, sandwiches. The latest advertising shows people that with just two slices of bread and Hellmann's mayonnaise, leftover food can be transformed into delicious, creative next-day meals.

Consumers inspired by Between 2 Slices can visit Hellmanns.com for leftover recipes, including tasty sandwiches such as Grilled Turkey, Brie & Cranberry Sandwich, Rustic Roasted Pumpkin Sandwich, and Chicken and Apple Salad Sandwich.

In a survey by Hellmann's, a quarter of North Americans said they feel leftovers are boring and one-third think food doesn't taste as good the second time around (35% Canadians; 3% Americans)³ - leading to their decision to toss their day-old food. Since 2020, Hellmann's has encouraged fans to breathe new life into their leftovers with its Make Taste, Not Waste platform, which aims to educate customers about food waste, provide delicious recipes, and inspire foodies to find ways to love their remixed leftover meals.

"Hellmann's continues to champion the fight against food waste through our platform 'Make Taste, Not Waste' and we're proud of the impact we've been able to bring to the issue through our marketing efforts," says Chris Symmes, Marketing Director, Dressings North America, Unilever. "Between 2 Slices continues to build on our efforts to educate North Americans about food waste reduction and through the simplicity of this holiday-season campaign featuring sandwiches, we're arming consumers with the knowledge and tools to make mindful choices about their food consumption, ensuring that the joy of celebrations stays on the plate, not in the trash."

The Between 2 Slices campaign was designed by Cannes Award-winning animation agency, Illusion CGI Studio. The ads will be featured across North America during key seasonal moments and leverage an expanded isometric style to vividly depict memorable occasions where leftovers are repurposed with Hellmann's mayo. Each 'occasion' is depicted between two slices of bread, showcasing how the art of crafting tasty sandwiches creates new holiday memories. Print and digital out of home ads will run through Thanksgiving and the December holiday season in key markets across the U.S. (NYC and Orlando) and Canada (Toronto and Vancouver).

"Our goal with Between 2 Slices is to inspire everyone to think differently about their leftovers," said Kristen Denega, Hellmann's Marketing Lead, Canada. "We want to show everyone across North America that leftovers, whether from Thanksgiving or holiday feasts, are not just about reheating the same dishes but can be easily transformed into mouthwatering sandwiches. By doing so, we can all play a part in reducing food waste and minimizing our ecological footprint, especially during the holidays."

To learn more on how to reuse your leftovers during key holidays, visit hellmanns.com/us/en/between2slices or hellmanns.com/ca/en/between2slices and share your leftover creation with #MakeTasteNotWaste.

Methodology: Edelman DXI partnered with Leger Opinion to conduct an online survey September 15th-17th, 2023, resulting in a sample of N=1564 Canadians and N=1006 Americans, each representative of the country's adult population according to Census data.   

Edelman DxI Survey Research
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations Global Food Losses and Food Waste Report
Edelman DxI Survey Research

About Unilever

Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products, with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 2.5 billion people every day. We have 149,000 employees and generated sales of €50.7 billion in 2020. Over half of our footprint is in developing and emerging markets. We have around 400 brands found in homes all over the world. In the United States and Canada, the portfolio includes iconic brand such as: Dove, Knorr, Hellmann's, Lipton, Magnum, Axe, Ben & Jerry's, Degree, Dollar Shave Club, Q-tips, Seventh Generation, St. Ives, Suave, TRESemmé, and Vaseline.

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