• by Steve Ellwanger , December 5, 2019

Unilever is spreading the presence of its Hellman’s and Best Foods mayonnaise brands across a series of cooking videos in a digital content initiative titled “Homemade Unfiltered” featuring food author and restaurateur Ayesha Curry.

In one of six videos, Curry extols the virtues of mayonnaise as she scoops from a jar of Hellman’s olive oil variety to prepare turkey meatballs and spiralized zucchini.

“This is going to keep this meatball so moist,” Curry says. “And because mayonnaise is made with eggs, it’s going to act as a binder so we don’t have to actually put an egg into our meatball to make it hold together.”

In addition to being listed as the sponsor of the videos posted on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Curry’s ShopHomemade.com lifestyle hub, the brands are included in each show’s recipes/shopping lists. Links to the recipes are made available the day before each episode on social media so viewers can cook along with Curry.

“What makes them unique is that they are minimally edited and nothing is prepared in advance,” Evan Fleischer, president of Believe Brand Studio at Believe Entertainment Group, which partnered with Unilever, tells Marketing Daily. “You see everything from start to finish. There’s that feel of hanging out with her as she cooks.”

The videos vary in length depending on what’s being prepared.

“Just as in real life, how long you cook depends on what you’re cooking,” says Fleischer. “It is not a slick, polished presentation.”

Unilever is using paid social media in addition to sponsored posts to promote the series.

Part of the motivation for Curry, whose original idea was the genesis of the series, is to become “more of a lifestyle brand.”

She will participate in additional videos beyond the six cooking topics as Believe expands the concept to “an ever-expanding range of lifestyle topics and pro tips, including style, beauty, fashion, design and health.”

Fleischer is “seeking and open to collaborating with additional brands on those.”