Research You Can Eat
Our job for the University of Melbourne was simple—find a way to get people interested in their groundbreaking research. Their work is genuinely fascinating, but most of it was destined to gather dust as academic whitepapers.
Our solution was to present research in a way that everyone can enjoy, with a series of edible experiences called Research You Can Eat.
The Empty Bowl
Two billion people suffer from iron malnutrition globally.
To combat this, researchers at the University of Melbourne have developed a new strain of rice with four times as much iron in every grain. There was only one problem.
Before they could get the rice approved for distribution and consumption, people needed to know about it.
We told the story in a way that couldn’t be missed, by giving away almost 6,000 bowls of rice pudding at free pop-up cafés all over Melbourne, with one final twist: the bowls themselves were designed to reveal more of the story, the more you ate, revealing that one empty bowl was anything but.
1000 Happy Birthdays
Through a combination of several research breakthroughs in the University’s Department of Paediatrics, researchers estimate that they’ll be able to save the lives of one thousand unborn babies every year.
So we threw a birthday party for the researchers, along with their friends and family, and baked 1000 birthday cakes to celebrate.
We had a few left over.
The Now or Later Cocktail
Researchers are investigating the effects of impulsiveness on obesity, and how to create better food packaging to influence the more impulsive among us.
To shed light on this fascinating research, we created an impulsive aperitif—a cocktail that changed into a completely different drink the longer you waited to drink it.
Refreshing Polluted River
An exciting project at the University has created a shipping container-sized device that can be dropped into a community and instantly start making polluted water drinkable.
At several different activations throughout Melbourne, we created a series of drinking taps from a huge range of unpleasant sources.
Made Possible By Melbourne
Research You Can Eat played a crucial role within the Cannes Lion award-winning campaign, Made Possible By Melbourne.
Created with Huei Yin Wong
Photography by Huei Yin Wong
Produced by Firecracker Catering