Kraft campaign aims to end “wasted” macaroni art noodles

Kids love macaroni, no doubt about it. Macaroni is also the media of choice for countless grade school art projects. In a new tongue-in-cheek campaign called “Dinner, not art!” (see video above), Kraft aims to put a stop to such wasteful behavior and restore their tasty noodles to their original intended purpose.

The effort is centered around a free iPad app which allows kids (and adults) to create virtual macaroni art projects. Like any good campaign, there’s also a charitable element. For every digital noodle used, Kraft will donate 10 real noodles to Feeding America (up to 110 million noodles).

When you’re finished with your noodle masterpiece, you can “glue it down” and save it to a digital refrigerator. The best creations will be posted on Kraft’s Facebook and Pinterest pages.

MARKETING LESSON: Don’t be afraid to embrace the alternative uses for your product, even if it means discouraging those uses (in a fun way, of course).