As far as most Aussies are concerned, the very idea of gluten-free is verging on being un-Australian:: “Gluten free food? Tastes like cardboard mate!”

This is bad news when you’re one of the increasing number of Australians diagnosed with Coeliac Disease. It’s also bad news when you’re Wholegreen Bakery –  a company that specialises in making gluten-free baked goods.

Our brief was to shift the “bland taste” perception of gluten-free food and help drive sales for Wholegreen – with a production budget of less than AUD $10K and AUD $0 for media.

Idea:

Publicly bust the “Tastes like Cardboard” myth by creating and launching a cake that looks like cardboard but tastes delicious.

Execution:

Making the world’s first cardboard cake required months of R&D:

• We designed and engineered a bespoke baking tray to make pastry look like corrugated cardboard.
• Thorough taste and texture testing were required to achieve the perfect balance of cardboard appearance and delicious taste.

We launched during Australia’s Coeliac Awareness Week. We identified a list of 100+ celebrity chefs and foodie influencers and simply sent them each a slice of Cardboard Cake fresh from the baker’s oven with an invitation to share their feedback on social media.

“Our brief was to shift the “bland taste” perception of gluten-free food and help drive sales for Wholegreen – with a production budget of less than AUD $10K and AUD $0 for media.”

Results:

The cardboard cake made gluten-free food sceptics quite literally eat their words and left Australians in no doubt that you can  be restricted to a gluten-free diet and eat food that you enjoy:

• AUD $8400 production budget
• $0 media budget
• Earned media value: AUD $ 2 Million
• +24% increase in sales
• 238% ROI