Anti-smoking group Truth Initiative appoints Mojo Supermarket as ad agency-of-record

The Truth Initiative has brought on Mojo Supermarket as its creative partner and agency-of-record, moving from 72andSunny, which held the account for seven years. The review was conducted by Pile and Co. Truth wouldn’t reveal the other finalists, but they are believed to be MullenLowe and Mischief, among others. Mischief declined to comment. When asked for comment, MullenLowe had one response: “Don’t vape,” a MullenLowe spokeswoman told Ad Age. "It's rare you get the opportunity to create work that literally saves lives, 72andSunny said in a statement. "For the past seven years, we were given that opportunity and could not be more proud to have worked alongside truth to help millions quit smoking, vaping and combat the opioid epidemic. We wish them the best as they continue to spread the truth and will continue to support and champion their mission." According to Truth its national campaign has helped lower youth smoking rates from 23% in 2000 to 4.2% today and is looking to have the same success in preventing the youth from vaping and using e-cigarettes. That has been a focus for the longtime tobacco agitator since 2018, according to a statement last year by Robin Koval, CEO, and president of the Truth Initiative. “Youth tobacco use is at its highest in nearly 20 years primarily driven by e-cigarettes, resulting in more than 5 million youth now vaping across America,” Koval, said in a statement reacting to a Truth Initiative study last year. “Increases in youth e-cigarette use, and vaping overall, are no surprise as we continue to learn more about how the tobacco industry, especially e-cigarette maker JUUL, targeted youth and society’s most vulnerable with clever marketing campaigns, a highly addictive formula, and youth-appealing flavors.” Truth has a history of provocative campaigns that can put agencies on the map, like its 2006 TV spot, made in partnership with Crispin Porter & Bogusky, where teenagers dumped 1,200 paper-filled body bags outside the headquarters of a major tobacco company in New York City—representing the number of people that die daily from smoking at the time of the commercial. 72andSunny created some memorable campaigns for the organization, including its 2014 “Finish it” campaign, which called on teens to be the generation that “ends smoking,” and “The Truth About Opioids” campaign, which included an Emmy winning 6-minute film that documents the journey of Rebekkah, a 26-year-old heroin and opioid addict, as she experiences withdrawals during her detox from those drugs. “72andSunny helped us bring the truth campaign to a new generation,” said Eric Asche, chief marketing and strategy officer of Truth Initiative. “The 72andSunny team is incredibly passionate and has helped us engage hundreds of thousands of young people in our mission and encouraged them to speak out on important health issues including smoking, vaping, and the opioid epidemic. Together, we have saved lives and we couldn’t be more grateful for their partnership or prouder of that work.” The move is significant for the MDC Partners shop, which has had a rocky few years. It parted ways with Axe over two years ago and lost Coors Light in 2019, as well as its Cheerios, Yoplait, and Nature Valley accounts for General Mills the same year. However, things have been—well, sunnier—for 72andSunny of late, with some notable AOR account wins recently for brands including Pabst Blue Ribbon, Grubhub, and United. Mojo Supermarket continues to make a name for itself after hitting the ground running since its 2018 founding. Last year, Mojo was named an Ad Age A-List Agency to Watch. The shop has also worked with some big clients like Casper, Bowery Mission and most recently won the account for online dating app Match. Along with Mojo’s passion for the cause Koval says Mojo stood out for its “disruptive creativity and “collaborative spirit.” "We’re confident Mojo Supermarket will help the Truth brand continue to deliver transformative, social norm-shifting ideas to fight the forces and impact of nicotine addiction by engaging young people in new ways to make informed decisions about tobacco and e-cigarette use,” Koval said. “Meeting the Truth team was like meeting our heroes," Mo Said, founder and creative chief of Mojo Supermarket added."Their bold creative completely changed the way culture thinks about tobacco. We’re really excited to continue that work and change the culture around vaping too. It’s the kind of work you get in this business to do.”

Truth Initiative appoints Mojo Supermarket as AOR

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