The Hunger Ghrelins

n a heavily saturated charity market, competition for donations is fierce. The challenge The Hunger Ghrelins campaign faced was increasing awareness of food insecurity, drive donations and bring hope to hungry Western Australians. Made even more of a challenge as the campaign was launching at Christmas – a time when many charities were competing for donations. Hunger is an invisible feeling, and whilst a staggering 1 in 5 Western Australians are facing food insecurity, it is hard to empathise with something you’ve never felt. Our design solution needed to bring that feeling out into the open.

We created a new toy, The Hunger Ghrelins, encouraging people to take the fight against hunger into their own hands. This modelling dough kit could be purchased in the lead-up to Christmas. It was sold in supermarkets across WA and supported by OOH, radio, POS, website and a tactical social media influencer campaign. Instead of donating, people purchased a kit, sculpted and shared their creation on social media. An entire world was built around this an educational, entertaining, and donation-driving campaign that brought conversations about the devastating physical and psychological effects of gnawing hunger into the open.

Like all Foodbank WA fundraising campaigns, the critical objective was raising money to feed the hungry. The Hunger Ghrelins allowed Foodbank WA to provide 1.5 million meals to Western Australians over the campaign period. The campaign also helped to raise awareness of the plight of food-insecure Western Australians, with an estimated potential reach of 15.8 million people. Given the population of Western Australia is only 2.7 million, The Hunger Ghrelins message spread far and wide. The campaign produced a 3188% return on investment for Foodbank WA on a total campaign budget of AUD $22,808.

Within The Hunger Ghrelins modelling dough kit came the dough and googly eyes for people to sculpt what hunger feels like. The kit also contained a ‘zine featuring hand-drawn illustrations telling the story and the science behind The Hunger Ghrelins, encouraging people to share their creations on social media and further spread the cause. All paper and board stock used in printing for The Hunger Ghrelins packaging and displays was recycled paper stock. The Hunger Ghrelins toy pack was printed on a 450gsm Eclipse Greyback stock – an FSC certified stock, made with 100% recycled fibres.