Challenging mainstream industrial food and America’s fad diet culture with ridiculous creative.

The ice cream diet infamously recommended that people consume ice cream; so an eating plan based solely on cauliflower hash browns doesn’t sound that far-fetched. Or does it?

We worked with a registered dietitian to create a legit diet and lifestyle plan centered around our hero product - Cauliflower Hash Browns, calling it the Cauliflower Hash Brown Diet. And then we brought it to life in fantastical, multimedia detail. 

First, we wrote an actual 60-page diet book that included a 21 day eating plan, recipes, and exercises one could do before and during the consumption of cauliflower hash browns. Consumers could get the book free in exchange for their email address, intended to build the brand’s database for its ecommerce business.

Next we launched a dedicated website of coaching posts, inspirational videos, scientific charts and animated exercise tutorials. Then came the launch of a full-funnel campaign riffing on fad diets and their trope-filled performance-marketing approach, including testimonials from people sharing their weight-loss successes. For a series of first-person videos, we recruited actors who had appeared in diet ads in the past—giving them a new script that centers, of course, on cauliflower hash browns.

Sales of Cauliflower Hash Browns crushed expectations at our target retailers the month of the launch, comin in 42% higher than originally estimated. Our tongue-in-cheek tactics generated 2.1 million media impressions, and over 44,000 people began their journey on the Hash Brown Diet. We grew Strong Roots’ email list by 25% in preparation for an e-commerce launch. 

Our satirical campaign was heralded by Adweek as “gloriously weird” and “hilariously honest”, and was recognized by AdAge as “the fad diet to end all fad diets.”