• by Les Luchter , 5 hours ago

“Everyone eats in their own special way,” says Elmo of ‘Sesame Street” in a new videofrom Nestlé Health Science’s Compleat nutrition formulas. “Some use a fork, some use a spoon, some use a tube.”

Then, Elmo joins food-shaped Muppets and a real-life “tubie” family in singing, “With a tube or a spoon or a jiggle in their seat, what is better than how you eat? Remember that ‘what’ is better than ‘how.’”

“Compleat proudly supports tubies,” reads a graphic at the video’s close.

“Tubies” is a term for children who eat via feed tubes -- a number estimated at 200,000 young Americans, the 55-year-old brand told Marketing Dailyearlier this year. Children may need feed tubes to address such conditions as difficulty swallowing, gastrointestinal issues or chronic Illness such as cystic fibrosis.

The video, created by the Accompany agency, is a joint effort of Compleat and Sesame Workshop that’s meant to “celebrate tube-fed children,” the brand says.

Alas, you won’t see the “tubies” video on Tubi, but rather on YouTube, Spotify, Compleat’s social media platforms, and a dedicated website.

The campaign is targeted mainly to the “tubie community” that often feels “isolated and unseen, despite hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. being tube fed,” Priyanka Malhotra, Compleat’s director of marketing, tells Marketing Daily.

“The song encourages all of us, the village that surrounds caregivers and their children, to recognize tube feeding as one of the many ways people receive nourishment,” she says.

Compleat is spreading word about the campaign through earned media, owned channels and partner relationships.  With media handled by Real Chemistry, Malhotra says the aim is to “efficiently activate a reach-driving multichannel campaign with sequential messaging across multiple key media and messaging touchpoints” and to “use targeted digital and social channels, online video, and relevant contextual environments to meet [the tubie community] where they seek support.”

A key campaign element is an invitation to viewers to gather together to sing their own “karaoke-style” customized versions of the video’s song.  This, says Compleat, will “help children see themselves reflected in the experience.”

The viewer-submitted verses will be showcased in an upcoming social campaign, Malhotra reveals. “Each week, we’ll spotlight a ‘Verse of the Week,’ celebrating the voices that are helping us normalize tube feeding and amplify inclusion,” she says.

In addition, the Nestlé Health Science Foundation will donate $15 to Sesame Workshop for every verse created by a Nestlé employe. And Nestlé also promised a $50,000 grant to the Workshop “to expand educational resources for children and their families.”