Green Giant, a century-old brand with a globally recognized mascot, comes out of advertising hibernation with its first national campaign in six years, using a precocious internet-famous child to launch a new tagline and product.
The beloved Jolly Green Giant, with his trademark “ho, ho, ho” catchphrase intact, also makes an appearance. But it’s only his comically oversized, computer-generated hands that come into view.
Green Giant and its agency GYK Antler blended the numerous competing interests into a campaign under the marketing banner “That’s Giant,” featuring a new product called Dino Veggie Tots, the brand’s iconic spokescharacter and Tariq, an adorable 8-year-old known as “Corn Kid.”
The balancing act—drawing on the brand’s legacy while updating it with contemporary personalities and trends—was a delicate one, per Cristin Barth, creative director at GYK Antler.
“A lot of thought went into the hierarchy of messaging for the work—each element serves equally important purposes,” Barth told Adweek. “We often see heavy-handed approaches to bringing heritage brands into the current zeitgeist, and in this particular case, we felt like less was more.”
The Giant himself, celebrating his 100th birthday in 2025, was key in all the discussions. Barth said: “It wasn’t a question of if the giant would make an appearance. It was a question of how.”
The brand wanted to make sure the mascot “was leveraged in the right way,” according to Steven DeFrino, director of brand marketing, frozen and vegetables at Green Giant’s parent company B&G Food.
“As we talk to consumers, we hear that they still gravitate to the giant,” DeFrino told Adweek. “We wanted to do him justice and make sure he didn’t show up too cartoony.”
And casting Tariq, whose “contagious, wholesome energy and genuine enthusiasm for veggies is impossible to ignore,” helps target the millennial mom demo, Barth said.
An OG plant-based brand
“That’s Giant” is the brand’s first major push since 2017, when Deutsch shepherded its advertising in the wake of B&G Foods’ acquisition of the company from General Mills.
