NATURE’S PATH

Granola Gate

Capstone for Explore Internship, FCB Chicago

The Brief

Shift Nature’s Path from the “eating-clean-no-matter-what” crowd to flavor first snackers who choose indulgence first and see health as a bonus, not a lifestyle.

The Insight

Millennials are the most gossip driven generation, and nothing feels more indulgent than a good scandal.

The Idea

Introducing GRANOLA GATE. A scandal so juicy, it makes organic headline-worthy.
Brother Nature gets caught betraying Nature’s Path with unhealthy snacks (allegedly). The internet loses it. Nature’s Path leans in, unapologetically delicious.

Man wearing a green hoodie and black sunglasses eating a pink and white popsicle.
A man wearing a green hoodie, sunglasses, and a beard holds a piece of pink frosted cake with white edges near his lips, partially obscuring his face as he looks through a hole in his hand, with the thumb and index finger forming a circle.
Man wearing a green hoodie and glasses, partially covering his face, holding a pink soap bar with his right hand, and adjusting his glasses with his left hand.

PHASE 1: The Rise

In order to have a scandal we need a main character, so how do we get people to know Brother Nature enough to care that he is breaking the rules? The first phase of this launch would build Brother Nature’s celebrity status in pop culture. It would start with a PR sighting pairing him with the most organic Kardashian, Kourtney. Her famously gluten-free, clean-living persona would make the pairing instantly buzzworthy, but the real fun was in the subtext. Kourtney’s own celebrity history is filled with whispered gossip and headline moments, so seeing her share a bowl of cereal in public with a new mystery man would add an extra layer of intrigue. Her Kardashian privilege Additionally, we can take advantage of her large following and have her post with Brother Nature as well.

From there, the attention would be amplified with a Times Square stunt: Brother Nature barefoot, eating Love Crunch straight from the bag with milk and a spoon. This strange yet endearing visual would generate organic media in addition to being captured by street-interview creators like What’s Poppin?, Caleb Simpson, and What Is New York, making him a recognizable and slightly eccentric personality worth talking about.

A smiling man in a yellow and blue polka dot shirt walking with a woman in sunglasses sipping a drink through a straw, in a parking lot on a sunny day.
A man with a yellow bird on his head, sitting cross-legged on a city street, holding a bag of Love Crunch protein granola, smiling with eyes closed as he eats with a spoon.

PHASE 2: The Fall

Once the public is invested in Brother Nature’s quirky it-dude image, the scandal would drop. Staged paparazzi shots would capture him eating “junk food,” a playful betrayal of Nature’s Path values. The story would take over branded pop-up newsstands in New York City designed like early 2000s tabloid kiosks, flooding the city with glossy scandal covers. Influencers like Jake Shane, TINX, and Allie Appleton would react to the story in real time, amplifying the chaos and ensuring the scandal became a conversation people wanted to join.

Two copies of a magazine titled "The Granola Gazette" placed on a white surface with shadows cast across them. The cover features a man with a beard eating a snack, with headlines about organic choices and a mention of betrayal.
Display of magazines titled 'The Granola Gazette' with a cover photo of a man with beard and dark hair eating a snack, and the headline 'Not So Natural?'.

Inside each newsstand, visitors could grab a free Tiger Beat style gossip magazine created just for the stunt. Filled with absurd granola themed features like a “Granolascope,” fake celebrity snack sightings, and a dramatic two page spread covering the betrayal, the tangible magazine would tap into nostalgia while making the gossip feel authentic. Giving them away for free would encourage people to take them, share them, and post them, extending the scandal beyond the streets and into social feeds.

For our capstone, we actually printed physical copies of the tabloid and handed them out during our all agency presentation so everyone could experience the tangible concept firsthand. You can check out the full spread below.

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PHASE 3: The Response

The final say would come from Brother Nature himself. In a short video posted to Nature’s Path’s social channels, he would look straight into the camera and say, “I came on here because a lot of people are expecting me to be sorry, but I’m not. I would do it again.” Halfway through the video, the twist would be revealed. The “junk food” caught in the paparazzi photos was not junk food at all, it was Nature’s Path products the entire time. They simply looked so indulgent and tasted so good that people could not believe they were natural and organic. The video would close with Unapologetically Delicious and the hashtag #SorryNotSorry, flipping the scandal into a proud celebration of flavor.

To amplify the reveal beyond social, the apology would be paired with a bold OOH execution. A large format billboard would appear in a high traffic location with the headline “Brother Nature is not a cheater” alongside a QR code. Scanning the code would take viewers directly to the video, merging the physical and digital worlds and ensuring the brand’s response was impossible to miss.

Comparative images of a man with a sad face and a man with a happy face holding a berry-flavored product, alongside a sign reading "Unapologetic Flavor" and the hashtag #SorryNotSorry.
Billboard in an urban setting with a quote about brotherhood and nature, a QR code, and a man's face with a smirk.

My Role

Our capstone was a group project, but I played a leading role in shaping its visual identity and execution. I designed the full suite of deliverables, ensuring cohesion across touchpoints. I also contributed heavily to the art direction, working with the other creatives to establish the campaign’s aesthetic and storytelling. Beyond design, I generated and curated most of the imagery used throughout the project and collaborated on copywriting to refine the campaign’s tone and voice. While the creative process was collective, my contributions spanned design, art direction, image generation, and copy, shaping the way Granola Gate came to life across all touchpoints.

August 2025