McCain animates its potatoes

McCain is using stop-frame photography in its sponsorship of ITV teatime show Soapstar Superchef to show consumers the "painstaking" effort put into its Potato Gourmet range compared with the convenience of the end products.

McCain Potato Gourmet is a range of five frozen meal accompaniments including Mature Cheddar Cheese & Wholegrain Mustard Gratin and Diced Potatoes with Leek, Onions & Parmesan. The range is aimed at consumers wanting convenience coupled with home cooking. Idents feature the strapline "Proud to accompany your cooking with ours".

The series of five idents has been created by Beattie McGuinness Bungay. Each follows the individual ingredients as they dance, march and eventually cook themselves to create each Potato Gourmet dish.

The sponsorship, which starts on March 19 and was negotiated by Drum PHD, comes ahead of a press campaign to highlight the range.

Soapstar Superchef will run on weekdays on ITV and will feature some of the UK’s top soap stars preparing dishes for three professional chefs.

The sponsorship follows deals with ITV shows Daily Cooks and Saturday Cooks. BMB has also redesigned much of McCain’s packaging to make it more "relevant" to customers.