The archive · Brand & Identity · Marketing decision · 2022–2023
McCain grows Regen Fries in virtual gaming worlds to make regenerative farming real
McCain launched Regen Fries, the world's first commercially produced fries from regenerative potatoes, and told the story inside gaming worlds.
McCain Foods
What it had to solve
The way food is farmed needs to change, for the good of the planet, farming communities and all people who eat food. Regenerative agriculture is the solution, but despite commitments from major food producers, few people know what it is or why it matters — so they cannot support it.
How it works
The way food is farmed needs to change, for the good of the planet, farming communities and all people who eat food. Regenerative agriculture is the solution, but despite commitments from major food producers, few people know what it is or why it matters — and therefore cannot support it.
To tackle this, McCain reframed next-gen choices by launching Regen Fries — the world's first commercially produced fries made from potatoes using regenerative, or 'regen', methods. Instead of asking young people to learn about soil, the brand let them buy the result of healthier farming.
The brand brought the regen agriculture message to younger audiences in virtual gaming worlds and via real-life partnerships, meeting next-gen consumers in the spaces where they already spend time. The work entered the D&AD awards archive as an impact case.
Why it lands
- The product made the abstract concrete: regenerative farming became a bag of fries a young consumer could choose with their own money.
- Putting the story in gaming worlds let McCain educate the audience where it already was, rather than asking it to come to a farming message.
- Being the world's first commercially produced regen fry gave the launch a claim no competitor could borrow.
- Pairing virtual farming with real-life partnerships let players experience the practice and then taste its outcome.
What it did
The launch gave regenerative agriculture a tangible form young consumers could actually choose, carried the message into the gaming worlds where next-gen audiences already spend time, and entered the D&AD awards archive as an impact case.
What you can take
An invisible, abstract movement becomes adoptable when it is sold as a product the audience already buys — and explained in the worlds where that audience already spends time.
Since then
Regen Fries launched as a next-gen way into McCain's regenerative agriculture commitment, and the work sits in the D&AD awards archive as an impact case — a reference for turning a slow, invisible farming transition into something young people could see, play and eat.
Sources
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