This witty, no-nonsense campaign asks one simple question: why would you trust your food shoots to anyone but the best?
When it comes to selling food, the visuals have to be mouthwatering. That’s the philosophy behind BITE Collective’s latest campaign, which takes a refreshingly direct approach to marketing its expertise in food, drink, and lifestyle content.
With creative direction by Dave Dye, consultancy from Mark Denton, and stunning photography by Gus Filgate, the campaign stars simple, everyday ingredients, like cabbages, beef burgers, apples, and potatoes, and poses an amusingly self-evident question: why trust food photography to directors who don’t specialise in food?
BITE Collective is no stranger to working with some of the biggest names in food and drink. Their portfolio includes clients like M&S, Tesco, McDonald’s, Kellogg’s, and Aldi, while their team boasts experience in everything from TV food series (including Jamie Oliver’s projects) to social content featuring top foodie influencers. But this time, they turned their expertise inward.
BITE executive producer Alex Katz explains the motivation: “We believe in the power of advertising, so what better way to sell our services than by recruiting award-winning creative industry legends to promote our wares?
“We are in awe of their talents and have had so much fun creating this campaign. Above all, we wanted to shout out that we are the best food creative studio in the country.”
According to Dye, the brilliance of the campaign lies in its simplicity. “All the best ideas are blindingly obvious once you see them, like a company that specialises in shooting food introducing themselves to companies that sell food,” he says. “The same with getting your food shot by people who are actually good at it. Why isn’t either the norm? It’s nuts.”
The visuals drive this point home. Unlike highly stylised food photography that transforms ingredients into something almost unrecognisable, this campaign keeps it real. The subjects—cabbage, burger patties, apples, and a humble potato—are captured in their raw, unstyled state, like models before hair and makeup.
BITE Collective’s decision to engage Dye and Denton was deliberate. As Katz puts it, “Who doesn’t love and appreciate the talents of Dave Dye and Mark Denton? They had so many cracking ideas that it was tough to choose which one to execute! In the end, Dave pipped Mark to the post this time, but the campaign has been so successful we may very well use the other ideas in the future.”
The approach is refreshingly different in an industry that often shies away from self-promotion. The BITE team recognised that many advertising agencies and companies avoid marketing themselves, but things that “really, you’re your own best shop window”.
“We have the expertise to guide clients in this massive realm of food and drink, and we believe we have the best talent in the market. Why not shout about who we are?” says BITE.
The campaign’s core is humour, but its execution is serious business. Filgate, the food photographer behind the project, took inspiration from legendary photographer Irving Penn.
“The hope for each ad was to make a portrait of an ingredient that is simplicity itself—as a launch pad for whatever fabulousness you may want to happen next,” Filgate explains. “What amazing things might you want from your beef patty? How would you like to see a simple potato transformed through BITE’s expertise?”
To achieve this, he kept the setup minimal, using lightly textured backgrounds to frame the subjects but never interfering with them. He also cooled the north light to model the subjects without over-flattering them. The result is a set of images that feel timeless and refined yet cheekily direct.
The campaign is running in food publications across the UK, directly targeting food and drink manufacturers. According to Dye, the hope is that “the people reading it think, ‘Yep, makes sense’. Then, next time they are commissioning directors to shoot food, they think, ‘Shouldn’t we include those specialists on the shortlist?’ From there, it’s in our hands.”
Katz adds: “I think the campaign sums up what BITE Collective is about: collaboration, quality creative, and a wry sense of humour.
“We take our craft very seriously, but we wanted to present ourselves in a fun, lighthearted way. I think the campaign gives that impression in bucketloads.”
Given tthe campaign’s success BITE is already tplanning its next move. Will it include moreads? Different formats? Outdoor executions? “Maybe we’ll try Old Street roundabout,” says Dye.
Beyond advertising, BITE has a busy slate of projects, including an upcoming Easter campaign, a new campaign for Lofbergs coffee, and an evolving TV division led by Niall Downing. They’re also developing a new food TV show and will be making an appearance at Content London next month.
As for the print campaign, there’s plenty more material to work with. “A bowl of grapes? A parsnip perhaps?” muses Katz. “There’s an array of food at our fingertips!”
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