#ChangeTheStory

 

61% of people don’t know about their food waste impact.

 

But almost everyone knows about fairy tales. We learnt that many are fascinated with these stories – they make us feel nostalgic and safe.

 

So, let’s write a new narrative for food waste, using popular fairy tales to educate people, and drive them to #ChangeTheStory – to do their part in changing our collective narrative where 1/3 of our food is wasted, yet global hunger is rife.

 

Our campaign will target children and their parents. Everyday habits usually take root by age 9, so young people are more receptive to behaviour change they can continue into adulthood.

 

Our #ChangeTheStory campaign will work across multiple platforms.

 

First, we’ll create a very helpful, no-nonsense chatbot: The Fairy Bot Mother. We’ll use her to educate our audience about their food waste impact and help them make more conscious food decisions, by telling the story of food waste through the fairy tale stories our audience know and love.

 

Because where would Hansel & Gretel be without their breadcrumbs? Or the Princess without the pea?

 

We’ll create a library of reimagined fairy tales, but where the food has been wasted ­– and as a result, the characters don’t get their happy ever afters. Users can ask the Fairy Bot Mother to 'Tell me a story' and she’ll read aloud our altered fairy tales.

 

We’ll partner with Amazon and Google, so those with smart speakers can communicate with the Fairy Bot Mother through voice. After all, half of Alexa owners keep their device in the kitchen.

 

And that’s not all. By simply typing or sending an emoji of a food item our audience has at home, the Fairy Bot Mother can suggest:

 

• How it should be stored to maximise shelf life.

• Whether it’s safe to eat.

• Recipes and ideas on how it can be used up.

 

What’s more, fairy godmothers grant wishes – so we’ll enable a feature where users can donate the price of a meal to a hungry child somewhere in the world, raising awareness of UNWFP’s work and helping reduce world hunger.

 

To drive awareness of our campaign, we’ll utilise paid social media advertising on visual platforms like Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. Plus, we’ll create supporting social assets like illustrated ‘story books’ to tell our altered fairy tale stories to an even wider audience.

 

Our campaign will go live in key global markets first, before rolling out in smaller local markets. We’ll run it for a month, after which we’ll test and optimise for a second campaign burst.

 

We’ll also work with high-profile influencers to share content of them interacting with the Fairy Bot Mother, using the campaign hashtag #ChangeTheStory and encouraging their audience to donate to UNWFP.

 

These social and influencer campaigns will invite our audience to change the course of their own food waste story, driving them to the bot where they can start making real changes.