Things and Stuff

Do you remember those TV spot ads that aired last January about Broccoli, the miracle food? If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out, it’s pretty funny: There was also a pretty strong website going, which can be found here: http://themiraclefood.ca/

However, in late September the Television Bureau of Canada revealed that the ads were not, in fact, an actual ad campaign. No, it was an effort on the part of the TVB to prove that advertising can sell anything. And it’s true. The TV ad alone was able to create a huge fan following after just five weeks, seen in the Facebook pages that attracted more than 20,000 followers and the video’s high ratings on YouTube. More importantly, broccoli sales were 8% higher than they had been the previous year – or, 188,574 lbs more.

So, is it true that advertising can sell anything? Or was the broccoli campaign so successful because it merely repeated what our mothers have always been telling us – but in a much less menacing way? Regardless, I know that I have a new appreciation for broccoli’s health benefits that isn’t going to disappear just because the man with the parachute is no longer on TV.  Without this ad campaign, I would probably still be missing out on all those essential nutrients.