The Good Egg Project tries to rebrand eggs

We’ve come a long way from the Incredible, Edible Egg — the ubiquitous advertising campaign of my youth (the American Egg Board sold me when they compared chicken eggs to dinosaur eggs) that foretold the wonders of the breakfast protein in cartoon form. But has the egg fallen so far as to need a brand remake? Apparently so.

The American Egg Board launched a new campaign this week — The Good Egg Project — to encourage people to “eat well and do good everyday.” Even Cookie Monster apparently loves eggs now, with The Good Egg Project sponsoring this season of Sesame Street.

As part of the promotional effort, America’s egg farmers will donate up to 1 million eggs to a food pantry for every person who makes an online pledge to do good. The Good Egg Project also wants to show the public the face of the average egg farmer and provide insight into how eggs are grown today.

The announcement and kick off this week (which has clearly been in the works for some time) feels slightly reactionary in the wake of a recent YouTube posting of hidden-camera video that shows graphic footage from the Hy-Line North America Hatchery Plant in Spencer, Iowa.