Puck: Recipe for Change
Puck tasked FP7 McCann Dubai with developing a Ramadan campaign that provided meaningful, sustainable support to Lebanese families displaced by conflict. The client wanted to leverage their culinary brand identity to create a solution that went beyond traditional donations, ensuring that the initiative honored the dignity and heritage of the affected women while engaging a global audience through the power of authentic food.
Creative Idea
Displaced mothers' recipes were placed on global restaurant menus to fund their families.
Puck integrated authentic recipes from displaced Lebanese mothers into menus at international restaurants, turning culinary heritage into a sustainable financial lifeline for families affected by conflict while celebrating the resilience of their culture during Ramadan.
Turning Culinary Heritage Into Economic Lifelines
Scaling the Kitchen Table
The campaign achieved significant scale by partnering with international restaurant chains, effectively turning local Lebanese kitchens into global culinary ambassadors. By digitizing these recipes and integrating them into point-of-sale systems, the agency ensured that a percentage of every dish sold went directly to the displaced families. This model bypassed traditional aid intermediaries, providing a transparent and direct financial pipeline that sustained households throughout the holy month.
Measuring the Human Impact
Beyond the emotional resonance, the initiative delivered measurable economic stability. The campaign successfully supported hundreds of displaced families, providing them with a consistent income stream during a period of extreme volatility. The project saw a high engagement rate across social platforms, as consumers shared the stories behind the recipes, effectively turning the act of dining into an act of advocacy. The brand saw a notable lift in brand sentiment and purchase intent, proving that purpose-led initiatives can drive commercial performance while addressing humanitarian crises.
Production and Cultural Authenticity
Production teams worked closely with the displaced women to ensure their stories were told with sensitivity and accuracy. Rather than using actors, the campaign featured the actual mothers who developed the recipes, filming them in their temporary living conditions to maintain raw, unvarnished authenticity. This approach was critical to the brand's goal of humanizing the statistics of the conflict. By focusing on the culinary heritage of the Levant, the agency successfully shifted the narrative from one of victimhood to one of resilience, skill, and cultural pride, ensuring the campaign resonated with both local audiences in the Middle East and a broader global demographic.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Puck utilized its global distribution network and culinary authority to elevate home-cooked recipes into professional restaurant menus.
Category
Food brands typically rely on generic, polished advertising that ignores the harsh realities of the communities they source from.
Customer
Consumers sought meaningful ways to support displaced families while feeling a deeper, authentic connection to the food they eat.
Culture
The Ramadan season emphasized themes of charity, community, and the preservation of heritage amidst the backdrop of regional conflict.
Company
Puck utilized its global distribution network and culinary authority to elevate home-cooked recipes into professional restaurant menus.
Category
Food brands typically rely on generic, polished advertising that ignores the harsh realities of the communities they source from.
Strategy:
Convert cultural heritage into a tangible economic engine to foster genuine brand-led social impact.
Customer
Consumers sought meaningful ways to support displaced families while feeling a deeper, authentic connection to the food they eat.
Culture
The Ramadan season emphasized themes of charity, community, and the preservation of heritage amidst the backdrop of regional conflict.
Strategy:
Convert cultural heritage into a tangible economic engine to foster genuine brand-led social impact.
Results
The 'Recipe for Change' initiative successfully brought traditional Lebanese dishes to restaurants across 3 continents, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, USA, and Australia. Every order of these dishes directly supports affected Lebanese families, turning family recipes into financial support through the Dubai Cares emergency response program.
3
Continents with participating restaurants
Strategy Technique
Turn Brand Values Into Action
Puck moved beyond corporate social responsibility by directly linking product usage to tangible financial support. It proves commitment to Lebanese families by making their heritage a core part of the brand's global business model.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Story-Driven Campaign
The campaign centers on the personal narratives of Lebanese mothers to humanize the conflict. By documenting their stories and recipes, it transforms a simple food initiative into an emotional, character-led journey.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's exceptional craft lies in its powerful storytelling and seamless integration of a humanitarian cause with culinary heritage, elevating it beyond a standard food advertisement.
The visual contrast between the stark, war-torn streets of Lebanon and the warm, intimate kitchen spaces beautifully captures the resilience of the subjects.
The authentic portrayal of local homes, handwritten recipes, and traditional cooking methods grounds the campaign in genuine cultural heritage.
