Milling & Baking News - January 29, 2008 - 18

Industry Activities

'The Bread Trail' into distribution
by foundation, March of Dimes
RIDGWAY, COLO. - The Grain
Foods Foundation and the March
of Dimes on Jan. 16 placed a public
service announcement into national
television distribution aimed at increasing consumption of enriched
grains and other foods
that are good sources
of folic acid.
The television spot,
dubbed "The Bread
Trail," was unveiled
less than a week after the foundation
and March of Dimes
marked National Folic
Acid Awareness Week
with a ceremonial
ringing of the closing
bell at the New York Stock Exchange
(see Milling & Baking News of Jan.
15, Page 16).
The 30-second television spot features a young woman who discovers
a trail of white bread slices as she
enters her home. Curious, she follows the trail up a staircase, through
hallways and to the bedroom, where
she finds her husband smiling at
the edge of the bed holding a tray
of sandwiches. There is no dialogue
during the spot, and as the woman
closes the bedroom door, a narrator
explains, "Even if you aren't planning on getting pregnant now, you
should know that foods rich in folic
acid such as white bread and leafy
greens can help prevent some birth
defects before you even know you're
pregnant."
Slices of white bread are visible
nearly continuously over the course
of the spot. Logos of the March of
Dimes and the Grain Foods Foundation are flashed on the door at the
P.S.A. close.
The foundation said the spots are
aimed at increasing consumption of
foods rich in folic acid.
"Since the Food and Drug Administration mandated folic acid fortification to enriched grains in 1998,
neural tube defects, including spina
bifida, have declined by 26%," the
G.F.F. said. "However, a recent survey shows only 12% of woman perceive enriched white bread as having high levels of folic acid, despite
the fact that it is the primary source
of folic acid in the diets of Americans."
Also during January, a new Folic
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

Acid for a Healthy Pregnancy Seal
was unveiled by the two groups.
January is Birth Defects Prevention Month, and the P.S.A. is the
second produced by the G.F.F. and
March of Dimes. Last year 's spot

not be thinking about getting pregnant."
Ms. Adams noted that 10 Years
of Saving Babies is one of two marketing campaigns the foundation
is conducting this year. Both campaigns seek to increase consumption of grain-based foods.
"Our target audience is women
between 18 and 45 because they are

featured Susie Castillo, Miss USA
2003. After attracting almost 3 million viewers in January, the P.S.A.
did nearly as well in February, airing 133 times with most of the airings in top 50 markets.
Whether or not the spot is aired is
left to the discretion of local television station management.
"They have to air a certain number of hours of P.S.A.s each year,
but they do not need to run ours,"
said Judi Adams, president of the
Grain Foods Foundation. "This was
our most subtle way of appealing
to young women who may or may

the gatekeepers," Ms. Adams said.
"In our fall snacking campaign we
wanted to get the message across
that whole grains are great and
should be consumed three times a
day but also that for you and your
family, enriched grains are good too
and you should feel good about eating them."
Advertisements for the campaign
were run in five magazines with
readership consistent with the foundation's target.
The public service announcement
may be found through a link at
www.grainpower.org MBN

Creator describes balancing act
needed for effective television spot
WENHAM, MASS. - In crafting "The
Bread Trail," a new public service announcement created by the Grain Foods
Foundation and the March of Dimes, a
delicate balance was pursued to engage viewer interest while adequately
communicating the health benefits of
folic acid.
Mullen, the Wenham-based agency responsible for creating the spot,
sought to create a visual story that
would intrigue viewers to help the
message stick, said Michael J. Ancevic,
group creative director, Mullen.
"The story the viewer is allowed in
on is charming and universal," he said.
"There is a nice story arc, and it is
sweet the way it ends."
In developing the spot, Mr. Ancevic
applied learnings from another P.S.A.

series he helped create - Buzzed
Driving, for the Ad Council. The Buzzed
Driving campaign offers humorous
warnings against drunk driving, "without being preachy," Mr. Ancevic said.
"The networks were motivated to run it
because it was a P.S.A. created in a different way, with humor while still effectively
conveying a message," he said. "It's really
about how to package the message, keep
it fresh and appeal to a wide target when
the media market is so crowded."
The objective was met with Buzzed
Driving, Mr. Ancevic noted. Measured
by how frequently it was aired, the anti-drunk driving campaign was among
the most successful P.S.A.s ever. Mullen and the grain-based foods industry hope for similar success from "The
Bread Trail." MBN

Milling & Baking News

January 29, 2008 / 19

http://www.grainpower.org http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - January 29, 2008

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