Why Are Swedish School Kids Eating Bugs on a Bun?

Bread is a staple food; but with low-carb diets still fashionable, many young people avoid it. In Sweden, the Swedish Bread Institute, decided to do something about this, getting young people talking about bread again via a social media campaign that involves eating bugs on a bun.

The "Bread the Future" campaign, by Edelman Deportivo, launched with this teaser that sees an eccentric lunch lady from the future offering kids the insect lunches. The film also explains that bread is vital for our future as it's good for the climate -- unlike many foods, it doesn't have to be imported.

This isn't just a funny film however; the campaign is really doing a school tour, where it's inviting kids (with parental permission) to try sandwiches topped with mealworm beetles, and a future film will capture their reactions.

Mattias Ronge, CEO at Edelman Deportivo, told Creativity: "To make people feel great when eating bread, we highlighted its climate benefits and to get people to pay attention, we decided to use the most climate friendly toppings there are, namely bugs. The campaign placed bread in one of the most engaging topics in Sweden right now: our climate, and started a discussion in both the editorial and social space. Insects might be tiny, but in this case, they had an impact much larger than their actual size. If the customers prefer a cheese sandwich? That's ok. It is very climate friendly too."