Sainsbury’s brings back Beckham for Active Kids campaign
Sainsbury’s has brought back brand ambassadors David Beckham and Ellie Simmonds to help promote the return of its Active Kids campaign, which expands the voucher collection scheme to cookery and nutrition equipment for the first time.
By Sarah Vizard
Video: Beckham and Simmonds appear in Sainsbury’s TV ad to promote the return of its Active Kids campaign.
Both Beckham and Simmonds will appear in a 40-second TV ad set to air tomorrow (29 January) to kick off the Active Kids 2014 campaign. The spot, which Sainsbury’s has posted on YouTube and its social media accounts already, shows a child protecting a cardboard box on his journey home from school before revealing to his parents a vegetable quiche that he made at school with “a little bit of help” from the two sports stars.
The Active Kids scheme launched back in 2005 with the aim of encouraging children to be more active and healthy. Since then, Sainsbury’s has donated more than £136m worth of sports and activity equipment and experiences, with more than 51,000 nurseries, schools, Scout and Guide groups and sports clubs registered to receive vouchers.
To coincide with forthcoming changes to the National Curriculum that will require all pupils aged between 7 and 14 to be taught cookery at school, this year the Active Kids scheme is expanding to cookery and nutrition toolkits.
Sainsbury’s customers will receive one voucher for every £5 they spend at Sainsbury’s Local convenience stores and £10 at every other store. They can then donate the vouchers to a participating organisation, which can redeem them for items including cookery equipment such as vegetable peelers and mixing bowls, as well as sports items including skipping ropes and cricket balls.
Beckham and Simmonds are the latest celebrities to throw their weight behind the Active Kids campaign. They both appeared in the 2013 campaign and have promoted Paralympic activations for the brand. Previous Active Kids ambassadors include chef Jamie Oliver and Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes.
Sainsbury’s focus on improving kids’ health through healthy eating comes after Tesco yesterday (27 January) announced a new food education programme that aims to teach kids more about where food comes from and how it is made.
Supermarkets are coming under increasing pressure to help improve public health after signing up to the government’s public health responsibility deal. Launched in 2011, the deal saw supermarkets sign pledges to help customers reduce their intake of fat, salt and calories through actions such as smaller portion sizes, increased marketing of low calorie options and education.
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