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2020 One Show - Public Relations

The Cure for Chinese Restaurant Syndrome

Agency Edelman / New York

Client Ajinomoto
BACK TO RESULTS

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%.