Perdue Rolls Out 1st National Campaign

Perdue Farms Inc. has introduced a series of documentary-style TV spots as part of its first-ever nationwide campaign, “We Believe in a Better Chicken.” The advertisements give viewers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at Perdue, show enthusiastic employees and reveal the company’s status as the first poultry supplier to receive the USDA Process Verified Seal.

Featuring the real people and places behind the brand, the campaign emphasizes Perdue’s commitment to quality by noting that the seal verifies that Perdue chickens have been raised without cages and fed an all-vegetarian diet with no animal byproducts, while selected items bear the company’s signature tenderness guarantee.

“We know that today’s consumers are interested in learning more about the food they eat,” noted Jim Perdue, chairman of Salisbury, Md.-based Perdue, the third-largest company in the poultry industry and provider of the No. 1 brand of fresh chicken in the eastern United States. “They want to know how the chicken was raised and what it was fed. At Perdue, we are proud of associates, our practices for raising chickens and our products, and we want consumers to learn more about us. This campaign allows us to share more of the Perdue story with consumers -- We Believe in a Better Chicken has become a philosophy and promise that extends across the brand.”

Perdue has run TV ads for the past 40 years, many of them starring Frank Perdue, who is credited as being one of the first CEOs to use his own persona to convey a message, in this case the classic “It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.” The new campaign continues the tradition by using more than 10 real Perdue associates, among them current chairman Jim Perdue, the SVP of food safety & quality, the director of poultry nutrition, and members of a farm family that raises Perdue chickens, to convey passionate messages.

Campaign advertising was created by Deutsch New York, a Lowe & Partners Co. In addition to national TV, the campaign will be supported by digital, print, social media and retail extensions.