"CHICKEN OUT! Campaign"
In 1998 British Celebrity Chef and TV Presenter Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall founded the original 'River Cottage' in Dorset, England, with the belief of home grown produce, self sufficiency, food integrity and the consumption of local and seasonal produce for all.
Image source - http://www.chickenout.tv/banners.html
Fearnly-Whittingstall has based the CHICKEN OUT! Campaign on his beliefs "that conditions in which most chickens in the UK are reared are unacceptable" (www.chickenout.tv, 2008). With stocking densities too high and deprivation from essential stimulation causing distress and ill health to these birds. Fearnly-Whittingstall is campaigning for a minimum welfare standard for indoor reared broiler chickens. His campaign is for an industry change with lower stocking densities and environmental enrichment programmes, with additionally the industry following the RSPCA Freedom Foods System. Ideally achieving the higher percentage of birds reared outdoors on assured free range and organic systems. (http://www.chickenout.tv,2008/)
PROMOTION OF THE CHICKEN OUT CAMPAIGN
The CHICKEN OUT! Campaign's media and advertisement has mainly involved the education of the nation to the on goings of intensive chicken farming. Its initiative was to give the nation the informed choice with the persuasion that the Free Range option is better. It requires the support and the display of consumer buying power in order to succeed.
But has it done so?
Website.
Image source - http://www.chickenout.tv.index.html/
It is a very simplistic web site, and is easy to navigate. It relays the facts about chicken farming and statistical information without being over whelming, this allows the reader to take on board the message with out it being lost in words. It also relays its message through graphics and video on the site, which installs the picture message in the reader's mind, pictures put there to disgust the consumer and enforcing the campaign message. The image being more shocking than just reading about the treatment of the birds.
The website is the main on going campaign advertisement and contains the most up to date progress the campaign has made, it also links to other media support and campaign methods. (www.chickenout/tv, 2008)
Recipes.
Image source - http://www.channel4.com/food/on-tv/the-big-food-fight/the-big-food-fight.html.jpg)
The website and TV series have incorporated the Nations enthusiasm and love of cookery programmes by introducing the nations first 'Cook Along Live' with Gordon Ramsey on Channel Four in January 2008 and by combating the issue of the expense of the Free Range or Organic bird by illustrating the full potential of a whole boiler bird.
I feel that the 'Cook Along Live' programme was off topic and brought nothing to the campaign. Though the recipe's used by Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall to highlight that a Free Range/Organic bird need not prove expensive if all the bird was used when cooking was beneficial to the cause.
http://www.channel4.com/food/on-tv/the-big-food-fight/the-big-food-fight.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvwOS_lUjKA
TV Campaign.
The TV Campaign was the start of the national campaign. Firstly with Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstalls, 'Hugh's Chicken Run' following Hugh's running of an intensive broiler chicken farm against the running of his Free Range birds, and supporting the CHICKEN OUT! Week in Hugh's local town of Axeminster. Followed closely by Channel 4's 'Big Food Fight', week showing programmes such as Jamie Oliver and 'Jamie's Fowl Dinner's'.
The TV Campaign was a critical part for success of the over all CHICKEN OUT! Campaign and I feel it achieved this. As to whether or not the nation was united in thought and support for the campaign, it brought about a response in the consumer and became a 'Hot' topic in the media. Meaning that the campaign stayed in the minds of the buyer for weeks/months later and is still having an effect on the supermarket chains to date. The TV campaign not only relied upon the viewers compassion for the chicken but hit the message home for those not so compassionate to the chickens journey, by informing us of the detrimental effects some of the unhealthier produce of these chickens is having to our own health.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73Vbf1ykXsY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaT7Um1GDzk
CHICKEN OUT! Week.
One of the first campaign 'targets' was that of the town of Axeminster. "Axminster has been the home to the first strides of Hugh's campaign to raise awareness of the dreadful welfare conditions in which chickens are reared. Chicken Out! Week during the first week of October saw Axminster undergoing a unique experiment. Could Hugh persuade the town to reject factory farmed intensive chicken, and choose free range instead? The plan was simple. If more than half of the chicken sold in Axminster during Chicken Out! Week was free range Hugh would declare this tiny town in Devon Britain's first Free Range Town. Thus creating a model to challenge the whole country to change the way in which Britain produces, buys and consumes chicken forever!" (www.chickenout/tv, 2008).
The campaign proved a success in the town and was shown in the TV campaign. (www.chickenout/tv, 2008) This part of the campaign obviously offered consumer response and research on the small scale and at an early stage, allowing them to further develop the campaign based on the response they gained. Enabling them to produce answers for those showing cynicism. I feel this is a good basis for any campaign to find out the concerns of the cynics against the campaign and also what elements work before hitting a larger audience, helping to gain a greater success.
Campaign Involvement of Supermarket Chains.
The campaign has defiantly been evident in the supermarket with Free Range/Organic birds being in high demand and the supply chain not yet able to cope with such demand, shelves are often left empty of such birds, but plentiful of Intensively reared birds. I feel the campaign has been a great success in light of this as this is where the campaign was mainly targeted. The consumer's main source and the biggest influencers on UK farming the Supermarket chain. If the campaign is to be a continued success this is where the biggest change has to happen and as the supermarkets have felt the change in the consumers demands the campaign has worked.
Celebrity Endorsement and Support
The CHICKEN OUT! Campaign used famous faces to help show the popularity of the campaign and push it into the public eye, along with trying to give it a 'fashionable face'.
http://www.chickenout.tv/celebrity-sign-ups.html
I do not feel that many well known celebrities endorsed the campaign. It was supported by the likes of Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsey, Bill Oddie, Kate Humble and the band Keane, but very little made it in to the public eye with there visible endorsements .
Merchandise.
THE CAMPAIGNS MEDIA AFFECT
"As Britain Catches Free Range Fever, is Britain on the verge of a Free Range revolution."
"Hugh's Chicken Run has generated an extraordinary response, with reports that supermarkets are struggling to keep up with increased demand for higher welfare poultry, and restaurants reporting unprecedented levels of customer interest in the provenance of their poultry." (www.chickenout/tv, 2008)
In my opinion this campaign has been successful as it managed to gain free publicity in addition to the campaign its self. It incited public thought and response which in turn effected big supermarket chains and because of this it may have the power to alter the public's long term buying and make the campaign a long term success.
Whether or not this campaign will have altered consumer's long term buying habits and have altered the way chicken will be farmed in the future, only time will tell. - watch this space... www.chickenout/tv
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