Chiquita Italia unveils new campaign

Just a few weeks after confirming plans to work with Milan-based agency Forchets, Chiquita's Italian division has unveiled a new publicity campaign – aimed at drawing attention to the quality of produce sold under its blue label – across a range of media including print, web, ambient and in-store advertising.

Employing a simple, versatile and engaging format, the campaign's first round kicks off in August and will depict a fully grown banana with two Chiquita labels being asked for one of them by a smaller, evidently younger and, by implication, less mature banana.

In response to the younger banana's question "Why do you have two stickers?", the 'adult' fruit will reply: "It's for you, if you're good."

According to Chiquita, the road to obtaining the blue label is long and arduous. To merit the sticker, it says, its fruit must pass strict quality checks.

Maurizio Pisani, director of marketing at Chiquita Italia, said he believed the new camapign would set exactly the right kind of tone in its communication with Italian consumers.

"The idea put forward to us by Forchets fits in perfectly with the personality of the brand and the frank, direct tone which has always distinguished Chiquita's marketing," he commented.

"It also allows us to explain to consumers that Chiquita is synonymous with high quality fruit thanks to the production standards we apply and the strong selectivity we employ at every stage of the supply process," he added.

Fabrizio Ferrero De Michelis, executive creative director and founder of Forchets, said his company was "proud and honoured" to be able to work with Chiquita.

"Chiquita is one of the historic brands when it comes to Italian advertising," he said. "It's an assignment that makes us doubly happy, not only because it confirms Forchets is growing but also because of the campaign's winning idea, which conveys well our beliefs about what makes effective and efficient marketing, namely simplicity and clarity across all media."