CHALLENGE

The COVID-19 crisis led to a sharp increase in anti-Asian racism. Fueled by hateful rhetoric and unfounded fears, acts of discrimination spilled over to Asian businesses and restaurants. Sales dropped up to 70%, forcing Asian businesses to shut their doors at an alarming rate. In fact, at the peak of the crisis, Chinese restaurants were closing at double the rate of any other restaurant category. As a global food company and a major supplier to the Asian restaurant community in the US, Ajinomoto took a stand to help these restaurants survive the effects of unfair stigma.

INSIGHT

As grocery shelves sat empty and shelter-in-place orders forced Americans to stay in, it should have been a moment for Asian restaurants — the pioneers of efficient takeout — to shine! What if we could harness takeout as a tool for activism?

IDEA

Our call to action was simple: order delicious takeout to fight this xenophobia-related drop in business. It began with an unbranded, celebrity-driven video that was self-recorded over takeout in their own homes. As Margaret Cho, Harry Shum Jr., Jenny Yang, and Gail Simmons stuffed their faces with delicious takeout, they shed light on this xenophobic food phenomenon and urged followers to support their favorite local Asian-owned restaurants. Across social, consumers spread awareness of the issue by sharing their #TakeOutHate orders, highlighting the restaurant they were supporting, and tagging friends and family to do the same. To date, over 2,500 unique Asian restaurants have been spotlighted by supporters of the campaign.