• by Teresa Buyikian , March 20, 2025

The health-conscious chain Sweetgreen may be known for its salads and entrées made from scratch from locally sourced ingredients, but the recent addition of Ripple Fries to its menu has inspired a new ad campaign taking on fast-food chains’ deep-fried fries.

Sweetgreen's Ripple Fries are air fried with five ingredients; potatoes, potato starch, salt and parsley and tossed in avocado oil. For comparison, traditional fast-food fries have up to 19 ingredients, a difference highlighted in the new campaign, which was produced by the brand’s in-house creative team with help from Corner Table Creative.

One OOH execution shows the “Deep-Fried” fries of a fast food chain leaking oil out of a paper bag. Conversely, the Sweetgreen Ripple Fries are positioned next to them, “air-fried,” in a clean open container.  Another execution shows “Their Fries” with a laundry list of ingredients next to “Our Fries” and Sweetgreen’s Ripple Fries’ five ingredients. There are also short-form videos of the OOH concepts running on social media.

Sweetgreen’s senior director of marketing, Sonia Barak, told Marketing Daily about the new campaign.

Marketing Daily: Why add fries to your menu? Was there consumer demand?

Barak: Fries are the ultimate fast-food item, so bringing them to our menu is a key part of our mission to redefine fast food. Our culinary team spent nearly a year in the kitchen crafting the perfect fry, but what really sealed the deal is seeing the salad-and-fries trend explode across social media.

Marketing Daily: Why take on "their" fries?

Barak: We’re on a mission to bring more transparency and quality to fast food, and many people don’t actually know what goes into their favorite fries. Ripple Fries offer a delicious alternative made with simple, real ingredients guests recognize and feel good about eating.

Marketing Daily: How does the look/feel/tone of the new ads reflect the Sweetgreen brand?

Barak: Since day one, we’ve been transparent about where our ingredients come from and how they’re made -- right down to the open-source chalkboard in every restaurant showcasing our suppliers and growers.

Ripple Fries are an extension of that commitment, proving that fast food can be simple, delicious, and made with high-quality ingredients. It’s all part of our larger mission to redefine fast food and give our guests options they can feel good about. With side-by-side comparisons, the campaign highlights Sweetgreen's vision to prove that fast, affordable and craveable food can also be good for you.

The OOH campaign broke earlier this week in New York City, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago, with a mix of digital/moving and print billboards including digital urban panels, subway live boards, taxi/rideshare cartops and office building digital boards. The brand is also holding pop-ups at community events across the country to give consumers the opportunity to sample the fries.