The Campaign
Potandon Produce, the exclusive North American licensee of the Green Giant™ Fresh brand for potatoes and onions, has launched a large-format digital billboard in Times Square that runs through October 31. The creative spans two connected digital displays and uses the physical architecture of the screens to animate the iconic Green Giant moving through the space, culminating in a branded burst of fresh potatoes and onions under the campaign tagline "Live the Giant Life."
The buy is notable not just for the scale but for the timing. Running into Halloween, the campaign lands squarely in one of the highest-velocity windows for potato and onion sales — late summer harvest through fall entertaining. For retail buyers reviewing produce category resets and promotional co-op commitments, this kind of national out-of-home investment signals that the brand is actively building pull-through demand.
What Retail Partners Should Know
Green Giant carries brand recognition above 90% among U.S. consumers, giving Potandon a commercial advantage that most fresh produce suppliers cannot replicate. That equity is being deliberately directed toward two categories — potatoes and onions — that tend to be low-margin, high-volume staples where brand differentiation is rare. A Times Square activation does not move units directly, but it changes the conversation at the buyer level: retailers gain incremental leverage for in-store displays, circular placement, and shopper marketing support when a vendor is running national brand moments.
The campaign is supported by social media, original video content, and a public relations push designed to extend the Times Square footage into earned media across markets beyond New York. John Rota, Chief Marketing Officer of Potandon Produce, noted that the dual-screen format was chosen specifically to amplify the brand character at a scale that matches the Giant's identity. For trade observers, the multi-channel support structure — OOH anchor plus digital and PR amplification — reflects a sophisticated brand launch playbook more common in packaged goods than in fresh produce.
Signals for Operators and Vendors
For foodservice operators sourcing branded produce, campaigns like this one are worth tracking. When a supplier invests in consumer-facing brand equity at this level, it generally precedes expanded SKU activity, new packaging formats, or a push into foodservice distribution channels alongside retail. Potandon's existing network of growers and packing operations across North America gives it the supply continuity to support scaled distribution — the brand investment is the signal that commercial expansion is the strategy.
Vendors in the produce packaging, display, and category management space should also pay attention. Potandon has framed this campaign explicitly as a category-building tool for retail partners, language that typically precedes co-branded point-of-sale programs, retail media buys, and joint promotional calendars. Operators evaluating produce suppliers for contract cycles in Q4 and Q1 would do well to benchmark what brand support infrastructure looks like from a supplier at this investment level.
For more on how produce and ingredient suppliers are using brand campaigns to influence retail and foodservice procurement, see our Brand Launch Department coverage. Operators benchmarking vendor media investment against procurement criteria will also find relevant context in our Operator Intelligence reports.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
