Broccoli ads sell TV, not broccoli

By Lesley Hunter

TORONTO – What does broccoli have to do with television? Everything, according to the Television Bureau of Canada (TVB). It recruited the cruciferous green vegetable to test, and to eventually prove, the power of television advertising. The TVB was behind a five week television campaign starring broccoli that aired in British Columbia and Ontario in January. Using three, 30 second TV spots that pitted the vegetable’s “miraculous” health benefits against so-called miracles in life, not only did the campaign raise awareness and increase broccoli sales, it also led to fan-created Facebook pages and more than a dozen spoof commercials on...