CHALLENGE

In 2022, Gen Z acceptance of monosodium glutamate (MSG), Ajinomoto's signature seasoning, took a surprising 37% nosedive. The culprit? A surge of misinformation from their favorite news source: TikTok, which had become a hotbed for MSG conspiracy theories. Our mission was to regain Gen Z’s trust in MSG. But to do that, we would need to make our case on their TikTok For You Page.

INSIGHT

The good news is that the science was on our side. Not only has MSG been proven safe, it is also naturally occurring in foods like cheese and tomatoes, which is why Gen-Z’s favorite food, pizza, is so tasty! But unfortunately on TikTok, simply sharing the facts is a disadvantage. Content that’s short on facts but long on conspiracy travels 6X faster and is 70% more likely to be shared. This insight gave us a wild idea. What if we embraced the popular conspiracy format, but added a secret ingredient: the truth.

IDEA

Enter @CancelPizza, a new TikTok account designed to look exactly like other viral conspiracies, down to the unshaven talent and bad lighting. The mission to #CancelPizza was absurd, but every post was based on facts, scientifically proving that MSG is found naturally in beloved pizza toppings. The result was a covert education in MSG's safety and ubiquity, with the shareability of viral content. 

The #CancelPizza campaign went viral on Tiktok, generating over 46 million hashtag views. They all came for the conspiracy, and left with a new understanding of what MSG really is: simply sodium and glutamate. Our social campaign not only corrected Gen Z’s misconceptions about MSG, but also literally doubled their support for Ajinomoto's product, from 5 to 10 million.