Boy Meets Girl, Then Woos Her With Supermarket Packaging, in This French Grocer's Latest

Young love. It's fragrant in the air and in the springtime current of advertising, attacking from all sides like pollen. But where yesterday Mexican telecom Movistar gave us a smartphone-driven cautionary tale, today French grocer Monoprix offers something gentler, if just as improbable. For the client's 85th anniversary, Paris agency Rosapark has released "Label of Love," a video that slips Monoprix packaging messages, Cyrano de Bergerac-style, between two adolescents. In 2010, Monoprix tapped Havas City for a complete packaging overhaul. In terms of impact, the brand transformation can be compared to the moment Target started tapping into design, making its own generic branding sexy—Tarjay, anyone?—and providing a distinct, qualitative difference between itself and Walmart (for a while, anyway). At Monoprix, the result was a series of distinctive and colorful graphic bands across packaging that don't just name the product, but use clever wordplay to relate it to pop culture or daily life. Last year, Rosapark even helped the brand launch "Monojis," a collection of emoji stickers based on the packaging, so you can send friends Monoprix-branded puns to your heart's content. (Laugh if you want. It was downloaded 25,000 times in its first month.) In "Label of Love," a boy cuts these messages out and slides them into a girl's locker, never quite knowing how she feels about them. (She never addresses him, or even seems to know he's the one sending them.) His quest for more things to say leads to buying more groceries, of course. But in a typical twist of fate, one day the girl disappears—leaving the boy in what may well be eternal doubt. [kickout id="1"] To reaffirm Monoprix's position ("At the heart of your life, at the heart of your city"), the pair cross paths again in high school. As they shyly size each other up, a box tumbles out of the girl's locker ... spilling dozens of saved labels onto the floor! The sight of this sends the boy flying melodramatically into the nearest Monoprix, where he tumbles through aisles, snatching up cans of tuna fish, on a quest for the words that seal the deal. (He finds them on a carton of milk.) They ostensibly live happily ever after, kicking off what will doubtless be many romantic trips to the supermarket. The film was shot in 35mm and directed by British duo Thirty Two. The soft, folksy music in the background is "Thirteen" by Big Star, named one of the 500 greatest songs of all time by Rolling Stone. It went live online and on TV on May 10. On its first day, it was viewed over 1.75 million times on the 'net. On May 22, the brand will release 13 additional endings to "Label of Love," accompanied by an in-store activation in which, for two weeks, Monoprix customers can win prizes—a week in Japan, a bungee jump, a wedding ring, music festival tickets and more. Outdoor ads will reinforce the work, as well as an influencer campaign led by Blue 449. On social, Monoprix will be sharing selections of its most-beloved packaging from years past. CREDITS Client: Monoprix Agency: Rosapark Co-founder in charge of strategy: Jean-Patrick Chiquiar Co-founders in charge of creation: Gilles Fichteberg and Jean-François Sacco General Director – Strategic Planning: Sacha Lacroix Associate Director: Quentin Labat Copywriter: Louise Mussot Art Director: Cerise Leclerc Senior Strategy Planner: Alexandre Ribichesu Digital/Film team Account Director: Bérangère Puch Account Manager: Marine Dachary TV Producer: Adélaïde Samani Store Activation team Account Director: Lucile Wissocq Account Manager: Quentin Barbaray Art Buyer: Louise Bertin Print Production: Justine Dudognon Social/CRM team Client Director: Jeanne Neuschwander Social media manager: Clémentine Roux CRM Manager: Marie Abadie Copywriter: Yara Dalens Art Director: Bénédicte Morin Production film Directors: Thirty Two Production House: Insurrection Post-production: Mathematic Sound production: Schmooze

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Boy Meets Girl, Then Woos Her With Supermarket Packaging, in This French Grocer's Latest

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