The drinkware and food storage brand Ello is rolling out its first-ever brand campaign, "Keep It Fresh," this fall across connected TV, digital, and social channels. The effort marks the first time Ello has brought its food storage, hydration, and kids product lines together under a single brand platform — a strategic move that signals the company's ambition to compete for a larger share of the household kitchen and on-the-go occasions market.
The Campaign's Core Idea
Rather than aspirational imagery of perfectly plated weeknight dinners, "Keep It Fresh" leans into the messier, more recognizable reality of feeding a family: leftovers repurposed into an impromptu treehouse meal, snack time that doubles as playtime, and a park walk that quietly becomes date night. The campaign was developed with creative agency Ceiling Train, whose founder Christina Cooksey noted the pressure embedded in something as routine as deciding what's for dinner. "We wanted to give families permission to break some rules: Eat the leftovers. Take dinner outside. Let Tuesday feel like Friday," Cooksey said. The campaign features real families rather than actors, lending the creative an authenticity that consumer product brands in the foodservice-adjacent space have increasingly leaned on to build trust.
For foodservice and restaurant industry observers, Ello's messaging taps a tension that operators know well: the competition between dining out and the convenience of home eating. By celebrating leftovers and flexible, low-effort meals, the campaign reinforces that food storage and reusable drinkware are capturing mindshare at the intersection of home cooking and the on-the-go lifestyle — territory that restaurants and food-to-go operators are also fighting for. Brands that make it easier to eat at home, or transport food from restaurants, shape how consumers think about mealtime convenience overall.
What Operators Should Note
Jill Pearson, EVP at Leapfrog Brands — Ello's parent company — framed the campaign as a platform built to grow across categories. "'Keep It Fresh' is about building a brand people want to bring into more parts of their lives," Pearson said. "It gives us one idea that can grow across categories while still staying true to what made people choose Ello in the first place: kitchen products that make everyday life easier and leave a little more room for fun."
The campaign's cross-category logic — linking food storage with hydration and kids' meal products — reflects a broader consolidation trend among lifestyle kitchenware brands looking to become everyday household staples rather than single-use purchases. That kind of brand equity building has implications for food and beverage packaging and retail trends, as suppliers and retailers watch which product categories consumers increasingly prioritize. The campaign, accessible at ElloProducts.com/Keep-It-Fresh, is live now and will run through the fall season. As reported by Food & Beverage Magazine, consumer brands in the food storage and drinkware space have accelerated marketing investment as home meal occasions remain elevated compared to pre-pandemic baselines.
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.
