• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, February 11, 2025

Stonyfield Organic wants to help healthy eaters rethink Valentine’s Day, offering a shot at $1,000 for taking the Toxic Ex Challenge. The sweepstakes is simple: People block an ex who is bringing them down, and register at a microsite for a chance to win the money. 

The Londonderry, New Hampshire-based brand doesn’t think moving from toxin-free yogurt to toxin-free relationships is a big leap. Chasing a bad-news former partner out of your social media feeds is key to making way for new love.

Toxins get into our lives in many ways, says Lisa Kinzel, senior brand manager. “We make all of our products with high-quality ingredients and without toxic pesticides,” she says. “For Valentine's Day, we wanted to take that one step further. We believe removing toxins from all aspects of your life is as important as removing them from your food.”

The effort is the brand’s latest step in expanding the definition of removing toxins: In 2018, the company started a StonyFIELDS initiative to transform playing fields into organic grounds maintenance.

Entries to the "Toxic Ex Challenge" are on an honor system, and admittedly, $1,000 isn’t a huge chunk of cheese. “This is more about goodwill and recognizing that toxins exist throughout our lives, and it’s important to block them everywhere,” Kinzel tells Marketing Daily.

The company is using PR, digital and social media to let fans know about the campaign. Kinzel says that while the company will look at immediate engagement rates, including the number of entries and how people interact with the sweepstakes content, the bigger goal is “driving larger awareness about simple choices people can make to buy organic. We want to get people thinking about the many places they encounter toxicity in their everyday lives.”

Stonyfield is a B Corp. and owned by French dairy conglomerate Lactalis.