What it had to solve
Malnutrition affects millions of Vietnamese children, yet it is an abstract, overlooked issue; traditional fundraising was losing impact and UNICEF needed a message people could not ignore.
The idea
Print the stark statistics of child malnutrition onto the plates children should be eating from, and sell them to fund real meals.
How it works
Dentsu Redder designed a curated collection of ceramic plates with Minh Long, Vietnam's premier fine-porcelain maker, each plate visualizing data on nutrient deficiencies. Sold via a microsite, e-commerce platforms and retail outlets, with proceeds funding UNICEF nutrition programs.
What it did
The plates turned a statistic into a product people put on their own tables; the campaign won recognition at MAD STARS 2025 and the Cresta Awards 2025 and channels plate sales directly into meals, health-worker training and family assistance.
Background
Vietnam has millions of malnourished children, but the issue rarely registers: it exists as percentages in reports, not as anything a donor can see or touch. UNICEF Vietnam and Dentsu Redder (Dentsu Creative Vietnam) needed to make the problem visible enough to move people from awareness to donation.
Their answer was MalNutrition Plates, launched in January 2025 with Minh Long, Vietnam's leading fine-porcelain brand. Each plate in the collection is designed to represent malnutrition data — the impact of nutrient deficiencies rendered as striking ceramic design — so that the very object a full meal belongs on carries the image of the meals missing.
The plates were sold through a dedicated microsite, Minh Long's official website, major e-commerce platforms and selected retail outlets, supported by social activations, influencer endorsements and PR events. Proceeds go directly to UNICEF's nutrition programs, covering meal provision, healthcare worker training and family assistance.
The campaign was recognized at MAD STARS 2025 in Busan and entered at the Cresta Awards 2025. Dentsu framed it as turning 'a traditionally static product and abstract data into an impactful awareness tool.'
Why it lands
Data on an everyday object collapses the distance between statistic and dinner table.
Partnering with a heritage porcelain maker gave the plates craft credibility and a retail channel.
The product is the donation mechanism — buying the message funds the fix.
What you can take
When a problem is invisible because it is statistical, put the numbers on the object that should have solved the problem.
Since then
The campaign became a mainstay UNICEF Vietnam initiative for 2025, picked up Crystal-level honors at MAD STARS 2025, and entered international design-for-good competitions including the Cresta Awards.
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