Oh snap! Baby carrot campaign mimics junk food

By EMILY FREDRIX AP Marketing Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - Baby carrot farmers are launching a campaign that pits the little, orange, crunchy snacks as daring, fun and naughty - just like junk food.

A group of 50 producers hopes the 'Eat 'Em Like Junk Food' effort starting next week will double the $1 billion market in two or three years.

The plan begins in Cincinnati and Syracuse, N.Y., and will take at least a year to go national.

Television ads depict futuristic scientists studying crunch, a woman lusting after carrots and carrot sports featuring a trip over a mountain in a grocery cart. There are also billboards and carrot vending machines. Baby carrots will be packaged in crinkly, festive bags reminscent of chip bags.

The campaign by Crispin Porter + Bogusky will cost about $25 million.