Broccoli Saves Parachuter's Life

Who knew? The Television Bureau of Canada (TVB) and john st., Toronto has just revealed that a 5-week campaign featuring the virtues of broccoli, was not for broccoli at all. Instead, it was to prove that television advertising can sell anything.

Back in January 2010, a TV campaign aired for broccoli pitting its "miraculous" health benefits against other so-called miracles. After just five weeks on air, without any other form of communication or marketing efforts, the "Miracle Food" TV campaign garnered some serious attention. Fan-created Facebook pages attracted over 20,000 followers and broccoli sales were up 8% over the previous year. The most rewarding metric of all was the extra 188,574 pounds of broccoli that went into grocery carts across Canada the month.

The TVB's "Miracle Food" campaign, via john st., Toronto, consisted of three broadcast spots, directed by OPC's Brian Lee Hughes, which point to TheMiracleFood.ca and a post-campaign print ad revealing the campaign.

See one of the three commercials here or below.