No Name is taking “Grocery Goss” off the page and into festivals, expanding the tabloid-inspired campaign with experiential activations designed to reach Canadians where they’re gathering this summer.
Created by Loblaw Agency with The Mint Agency, the latest iteration brings oversized yellow checkout lanes, branded sampling stations and fresh editions of the “Grocery Goss” tabloid to events including the Calgary Stampede, Vancouver Pride and Toronto’s OssFest.
Image courtesy of The Mint Agency
“Grocery Goss” initially launched in April, distributing early-2000s-style tabloids across Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal that transformed product claims into sassy cultural commentary. The work balanced parody with product truth by rooting headlines in familiar cultural tensions. A line like “gaslit eggs,” for example, played off of what Mint partner and executive creative director Kim Tarlo called an oversaturation of “protein-ified” products.
Still the XM element was key to the activation, Tarlo said, providing a “unique power in tactile, ‘real-world’ disruption.” So rather than treating “Grocery Goss” as a one-off, Loblaw is expanding it this summer to show up where Canadians are already gathering.
Loblaw debuted a bright-yellow checkout aisle at the Calgary Stampede earlier this month in an experiential promotion meant bring attention to the Simple Check labelling system that identifies products free from synthetic colours, artificial flavours, and monosodium glutamate and other ingredients. The activation also included tabloids, popsicles and tortilla chips giveaways.
A similar experience is being planned for Vancouver’s Pride weekend from July 31 to Aug. 2 and “Grocery Goss” newsboxes will be back in Toronto at this weekend’s Ossfest, where festival goers will have the opportunity to grab the latest tabloid and complimentary No Name snacks.
