• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, March 2, 2015

A group of leading organic brands and organizations are taking on conventional farming and "natural" advertising claims with satiric videos.

The videos are part of an "Only Organic" umbrella campaign from Organic Voices, a nonprofit formed to provide consumers with information about organic agriculture and food production and their environmental and health benefits.

The group is supported by Annie's, Stonyfield, Honest Tea, Organic Valley, Earthbound Farm, Nature's Path, Happy Family, Rudi's Organic Bakery, Uncle Matt's, Late July Organic Snacks, Orgain, Pete and Gerry's Organic Eggs, Dr. Bronner's, Naturepedic, AllergyKids Foundation and the National Cooperative Grocers' Association. 

The latest effort, "New MacDonald," from Tennessee-based creative agency Humanaut (which uses Alex Bogusky as a creative advisor) is a live-action, 2-minute video showing school children performing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm."

The twist: The lyrics have been changed to describe the action that occurs around the children on the stage as the song goes on, including actors injecting cows with hormones, spraying pesticides on corn grown with genetically modified seed, and carrying chickens in small, confining cages. At the end, the children break away from the toxic fumes and give Old MacDonald's' farm a makeover, introducing GMO- and pesticide-free produce and free-range chickens.

The Old MacDonald video — which uses a different creative approach to convey messages similar to those in Chipotle's record-breaking, viral animated videos attacking "factory farming" — has attracted nearly 200,000 views on YouTube since being uploaded on Feb. 22.

Last year, at the end of January, Only Organic released "The Natural Effect," a video that uses barbed humor to explain the difference between organic products and products bearing misleading "natural" claims.

In the video, also by Humanaut, a spokesman for "The False Advertising Industry" describes how slapping the "natural" label on processed foods that contain GMOs, artificial preservatives, hormones or a combination of these "works every time." He explains that the industry has tried "more truthful" labels, like "kinda natural," or "10% natural," but they just don't have the sales-driving power of "natural" and "100% natural."

That video is currently showing more than 1.1 million views on YouTube, and has generated more than 5 million across various platforms, according to Organic Voices.

“In a playful way, our new video turns the spotlight on the true costs of conventional farming and the harm it does to environmental health,” said Gary Hirshberg, chairman of Stonyfield Farm. “We hope people find 'New MacDonald' as engaging and shareable as our previous content, and that it furthers the conversation around why going organic is beneficial to our environment."

Nielsen's latest Global Health and Wellness Survey, released toUSA Todaylast month, confirmed that younger consumers around the world are far more concerned than earlier generations about food ingredients and production methods. The survey found that fully 41% of those under 20 — Generation Z — say they would pay more for "healthier" foods, versus 32% of Millennials and 21% of Baby Boomers.

Nielsen also reported that globally, organic products have seen sales grow 28% over the past two years, and that products making an "all natural" claim have seen sales grow 24%. At the same time, 56% of consumers in the U.S. say they're skeptical about food health claims, underlining the growing importance of "transparency" in food marketing, said the researchers.