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Category
Reputation Management
Annual ID
OS_PR20_054M
About the Work
Americans fear Monosodium Glutamate (MSG). For decades, they’ve avoided it like the plague— falsely associated with xenophobic stereotypes about “dirty” Chinese food. For MSG’s biggest producer, Ajinomoto, this made it impossible to enter the U.S. market. Despite research proving MSG’s safety, they couldn’t sway a skeptical audience. So in 2020, Ajinomoto decided to shift their reputation by going to the heart of this xenophobic MSG hysteria. We traced America’s fear of MSG to a term from 1968: Chinese Restaurant Syndrome. It unfairly blamed MSG in Chinese food for headaches and sickness. Nevertheless, CRS was legitimized by Merriam-Webster and the definition brainwashed each generation. Our idea? Get America’s most popular dictionary to acknowledge the science and revise the definition. Ultimately, this would reverse MSG’s misperceptions. Our campaign asset was one provocative video, aimed @MerriamWebster. We exposed the racist undertones of the definition and urged them to #RedefineCRS. Our hashtag went viral immediately, as thousands of activists demanded a response @MerriamWebster. After pressure from the American press, they agreed to an update. Thanks to a viral movement triggered by one video, we resolved a dark misperception and Ajinomoto saw a sentiment change of MSG: from -63% to +75%.
2020 Awards
Total Points: 2
Merit
Credits
Agency
Edelman / New York
Art Director
Esther Lee
Chief Creative Officer
Jimmie Stone
Creative Director
Conor Hogan
Eden Lewis
Executive Creative Director
Jesse Suchmann
Executive Producer
Ari Pomerantz
Producer
Gina LoPinto
Peter Meiler
Social Media Manager
Livia Dayan
Melissa Connolly
Creative Team
Madelyn Fetzko
Grace Cha
Account Team
Gennifer Horowitz
Heidi Gengler
Jaclyn Sisbarro
Deanna Kugler
Lauren Corsaro
Stephanie Walker
Jessica Weaver
Danielle Ballantyne
Madison Lehman
Emma Johnson
Craig Weinberg
Lyla Shaibi
Elisa Vitalo
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