• by Tanya Gazdik , September 27, 2017

Vital Farms is breaking a campaign that attempts to educate consumers about the definite difference between “cage-free” and “pasture-raised.” 

The tongue-in-cheek effort from Austin-based Preacher doesn’t beat around the bush and literally calls “bullshit” on the cage-free label, explaining that all it means is chickens aren’t in cages, but it doesn’t guarantee a good quality of life. In many cases, they are still stuck inside of a warehouse barn without sunshine and with very little space to move around. Vital Farms, on the other hand, offers “Bullsh*t Free Eggs,” according to the video.

Studies show that consumers’ top motivation when shopping for eggs is animal welfare. However, they are being misled by thinking they are doing the right thing in seeking out cage-free, when in reality cage–free is a term that has been misleading consumers for years, according to the company. 

Vital Farms, the leading “pasture-raised” egg brand in the U.S. and standard-bearer for ethical egg production, aims to interrupt the false “cage-free" movement that so many brands are perpetuating and that so many consumers have been duped into buying into. 

"People aren't sitting around waiting to be educated on eggs, but many of those who think they're doing the right thing are being duped,” Preacher Partner & Chief Strategy Officer Seth Gaffney tells Marketing Daily. “That’s why we decided to take a more dramatic measure and call cage-free out as bullshit while showing the difference of Vital Farms' Pasture-Raised Bullshit-Free eggs."  

The central focus of the “Bullsh*t Free Eggs” campaign is a humorous online film starring a real Vital Farms farmer, Missouri-based Stuart Dill, and award-winning Chef Bryan Caswell (The Next Iron Chef), alongside a sassy grandma and grandson, and a table of brunch-goers. It highlights the enormous difference between Vital Farms’ pasture-raised eggs and cage-free eggs. 

The two-minute-plus full video will run with paid media behind it online, and in cut-downs. There will also be a big push with the message around social, in addition to merchandise bearing the bullsh*t-free message, including T-shirts, mugs, window clings for partnering Vital Farms restaurants and coupons for free Vital Farms eggs.