Hellmann's® Animal Crossing Island returns to educate consumers on the horrors of food waste this Halloween
The Island upgrade includes a Second Harvest donation opportunity for both gamers and non-gamers, scary food waste costumes, food waste tips and new eerie experiences and sites for a 360° Halloween experience at home
TORONTO, Oct. 20, 2020 /CNW/ - Hellmann's® Canada's island is back on Nintendo's Animal Crossing: New Horizons, with a spooky makeover. Around 80,000 metric tonnes of pumpkins are produced in Canada each year, however most of these are never eaten and end up being thrown away*. Hellmann's believes nothing is scarier than food waste, and the Halloween-themed island aims to help Canadians be more resourceful with their food and waste less this Halloween.
With Halloween tipped to look a little bit different this year, Hellmann's Halloween Island will offer Canadians a new, spooky virtual island experience and fun escape to enjoy safely from home, as well as the opportunity to once again make change in the real world, by converting their spoiled turnips in the game into real food for people in need via Second Harvest, Canada's largest food rescue organization.
Along with the eerie makeover, Hellmann's has introduced some exciting new features and experiences to offer a full 360 Halloween experience within the game, including a Pumpkin Carving Station, Canola Maze, Pumpkin Patch, Haunted House and Cemetery, along with additional opportunities for non-gamers to participate in the initiative and support Second Harvest.
Scary Food Waste Costumes
Hellmann's has created a collection of in-game scary food waste costumes, available to download for free here, which includes; "Spooky Fish Skeleton", "Creepy Leftover Carrot Costume", "Sad Jack-o Lantern", "Frightful Bacon Fat", "Orange Rind Mummy Costume", "Bruised Banana" and "Eerie Egg Yolk". Each costume, inspired by a commonly wasted food item, is also accompanied on the site by food waste tips and recipes to try and encourage Canadians to waste less over the popular holiday period.
How both Animal Crossing players and non-gamers can give back
Between the hours of 2:30 PM and 12:15 AM EST from Monday, October 26 to Saturday, October 31, players will be able to visit Hellmann's Halloween Island to drop off their spoiled turnips**. In exchange for each turnip, Hellmann's will donate a real meal to Second Harvest to help provide 25,000 meals in total to Canadians in need.
Non-gamers can also participate in the initiative, by using the costume collection as inspiration to create their own scary food waste costumes at home and if they wish, share pictures of their creations on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter with #HellmannsIsland. For each scary food waste costume picture shared, Hellmann's will donate one meal to Second Harvest, for an additional 1,000 meals in total. See here for DIY inspiration and guidelines***.
"Our first venture into Animal Crossing: New Horizons with Hellmann's Island was a huge success, meeting our goal of 25,000 meals donated to Second Harvest. We're thrilled to bring Hellmann's Island back and partner once again with Canada's largest food rescue charity to help those in need and bring awareness to the issue of food waste through Animal Crossing: New Horizons," says Gina Kiroff, Director of Foods at Unilever Canada. "We're excited to provide a fun, alternative Halloween experience for gamers, families and friends to enjoy safely at home this year. We're also looking forward to welcoming non-gamers to participate in the extension of this initiative and seeing their creative DIY scary food costumes brought to life in the real world to further support Canadians in need."
"Hellmann's Island on Animal Crossing: New Horizons just keeps becoming more creative, more fun and an even more high-impact way of raising awareness about the scariness of food waste," said Lori Nikkel, CEO of Second Harvest. "Once again, our thanks to Hellmann's for not only creating this awesome – and adorable – island but also for rallying gamers once again to help provide meals to support Canadians in need."
Hellmann's has been on the side of food since 2007 with the introduction of the Real Food Movement. To date, Hellmann's has donated 127,250 meals through the Real Food Rescue program and original Animal Crossing initiative for Canadians in need, with an additional 26,000 meals to be provided through the brand's ongoing partnership with Second Harvest via Hellmann's Halloween Island.
Hellmann's Halloween Island will be open between the hours of 2:30 PM and 12:15 AM EST from Monday, October 26 to Saturday, October 31, with dodo codes provided on a first-come, first-served basis on Twitter @HellmannsCanada.
Visit Hellmanns.wyng.com/animalcrossing for scary food waste merch codes, DIY inspiration and simple tips and tricks to reduce your personal food waste at Halloween.
Notes to Editors:
*Statistics Canada - https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/spooky-statistic-most-edible-pumpkins-end-up-in-trash-1.4859127
**How to access Hellmann's Island:
- Hellmann's Island will be open to visitors Between the hours of 2:30 PM and 12:15 AM EST from Monday, October 26 to Saturday, October 31
- To access the island, gamers will direct message Hellmann's Canada on Twitter @HellmannsCanada to receive their personal dodo code which will be shared on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Selected visitors will be given a 15-minute timeslot to drop off their spoiled turnips. For each spoiled turnip dropped off, Hellmann's will donate a meal to Second Harvest until the 25,000 meal target is achieved.
- After dropping off their spoiled turnips, guests will have the opportunity to explore the rest of the attractions on Hellmann's Island including:
- Hellmann's Farm – visitors can take a peaceful stroll through the picturesque canola fields or take a look at some other Hellmann's ingredients, including freshly laid eggs from free-run hens and quality vinegar in rustic barrels.
- Second Harvest Outdoor Kitchen & Pumpkin Carving Station – here, guests can relax and unwind by a waterfall, or take a seat at one of the picnic tables, enjoy a light snack, and gaze into the eyes of some ghoulish gourds.
- Canola Maze – visitors can explore the twists and turns of the canola maze, where scary surprises lurk around the corners.
- Apple Orchard, Pumpkin Patch & Cemetery – while touring Hellmann's Island, guests can take in the scenery, like trees full of fresh autumn fruit, pumpkins ready to be picked, and a spooky cemetery that just might be home to a ghost or two.
- Guide's Haunted House – guests who dare to enter here are certainly in for a scare, and it's not just from the skeletons and bubbling cauldron: abandoned meals from feasts gone by are sure to leave visitors shaken.
***Hellmann's social media donation initiative is a family friendly engagement meant to encourage people to learn more about food waste and engage with other participant's costume ideas. Participants will create their food waste costumes to represent any type of food that may go to waste. Costumes can be homemade or purchased. Costumes must be family friendly. Photos must be posted to one of the qualifying platforms between 12AM, October 26 and 12.15AM, October 31, using the approved entry mechanisms. All described guidelines must be followed to qualify for the donation program.
About Unilever Canada:
Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2.5 billion consumers a day. In Canada, the portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe®, Ben & Jerry's®, Breyers®, Degree®, Dove® personal care products, Hellmann's®, Klondike®, Knorr®, Lipton®, Love Beauty and Planet®, Magnum®, Nexxus®, Popsicle®, Q-Tips®, Seventh Generation®, Simple®, St. Ives®, TRESemmé®, and Vaseline®. All of the preceding brand names are owned or used under license by Unilever Canada Inc.
About Second Harvest:
Second Harvest is the largest food rescue organization in Canada and a global thought leader on food recovery. Working across the supply chain – from farm to retail – we capture surplus food before it ends up in landfill and has a negative environmental impact. Since 1985, Second Harvest has redirected more than 172 million pounds of food and prevented over 262 million pounds of greenhouse gas equivalents from entering our atmosphere. Supported by hundreds of corporations, foundations, and the community at large, Second Harvest rescues and delivers enough food to provide over 50,000 meals every day, benefiting a growing network of over 1,500 social service organizations across Canada. Second Harvest also developed FoodRescue.ca, a free online platform that directly connects businesses with surplus, unsold food to local organizations to positively impact our environment and ensure good food gets to people who can use it. With the global pandemic, Second Harvest is leading the Food Rescue Canadian Alliance (FRCA), that brings together government, private and non-profit sectors to ensure food reaches the most vulnerable members of our communities, from coast-to-coast.
SOURCE Hellmann's Canada
Julia Solomon, Phone: 416 849 1954, Email: [email protected]
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