Sausage Company Attempts to Fix the Internet

Johnsonville, the No. 1 national sausage brand, is attempting to fix the internet. Stemming from its national campaign “Keep It Juicy,” Johnsonville today announced the launch of #KeepTheInternetJuicy, a new effort that will attempt to tilt social media algorithms toward amplifying human kindness and inspiring stories on the Internet.

#KeepTheInternetJuicy will launch on National Positive Media Day, June 22, and run through World Kindness Day on Nov. 13. The brand introduced the effort in a full-page advertisement in the June 21 edition of the New York Times (see attached PDF).

#KeepTheInternetJuicy is backed by data found through “Johnsonville’s National Temperature Check,” a national survey conducted by The Harris Poll that aims to uncover topics Americans agree on. One overwhelming data point showed that a huge majority (89%) of adult Americans wish social media was less negative. During a particularly divisive year, social media seems to be trending towards prioritizing content that will garner the most rage and reaction. But 92% of Americans also agree seeing people do positive things for one another makes them want to do positive things for someone else, and #KeepTheInternetJuicy” will aim to help kickstart that momentum online.

“A huge majority of Americans wish social media was more positive. Certainly, some of the negativity and conflict we see in our feeds deserves our attention because it’s important, but it seems Americans agree the content we’re fed can make the world feel more negative than it really is,” said Jamie Schmelzer, Johnsonville’s senior director of marketing. “#KeepTheInternetJuicy is about giving stories of human kindness their rightful share of the online spotlight because they inspire more human kindness. We are going to use some advertising money to help, but obviously a sausage company can’t fix the internet alone. We’re asking for lots of help.”

With #KeepTheInternetJuicy, Johnsonville will collaborate with celebrities, influencers and other brands to seek out and boost positive content to ensure it gets its fair share of our newsfeeds and invites social media users to join in on the action using the hashtag #KeepTheInternetJuicy. The effort will also launch with a full-page New York Times ad today, with additional campaign elements to be announced shortly.

Johnsonville has revealed new data from the second edition of its National Temperature Check, conducted by The Harris Poll, with key findings including:

There’s a Lot of Negativity on Social Media – Americans Agree They’d Like to See Less of It

• Negative acts continue to increasingly permeate social media and gain clicks. But Americans are more inclined toward kindness than our news feeds may lead us to believe.
• Things Americans would like to see less of? 88% agree that fighting fans spoil the fun at sporting events.
• 86% don’t think that parents fighting at youth sports events sets a good example for kids.
• 89% disagreed that it doesn’t bother them when people yell at restaurant staff.
• 81% of Americans disagreed that trolling people online is a good use of time, and 92% agreed that it is wrong to make people angry on purpose for fun.

Positivity and Good Deeds are Contagious

• The survey also found that positivity is contagious – Americans are inspired by good deeds and kindness. An overwhelming majority of Americans (95%) agree on the importance of being kind in person and online, with 88% of Americans feeling better about the world when they encounter positive news or events online.
• 93% of Americans agree that people who help others in moments of crisis inspire them and *92% of Americans say seeing people do good things for one another makes them want to do good things for someone else.
• Doing something nice for someone else not only makes you feel good, but others also. 93% of Americans agree that strangers being unexpectedly kind makes their day* – it’s what Johnsonville would call “Keeping It Juicy” behavior.

#KeepTheInternetJuicy is part of Johnsonville’s recently launched national campaign “Keep It Juicy,” voiced by actor Vince Vaughn, which sets out to remind Americans that despite divisive times, it’s important to take a break, turn down the temperature, keep it together and keep it juicy.

To join in on the movement, Johnsonville is encouraging Americans to join them to help spread more positive content online with #KeepTheInternetJuicy. People can keep up with the campaign by following Johnsonville on Instagram, @Johnsonville, or by visiting www.keeeptheinternetjuicy.com.

Johnsonville’s National Temperature Check Research Methodology: The research was conducted online in the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Johnsonville. The second edition was among 2,085 U.S. adults ages 18+ and  was conducted May 21st, through 23rd, 2024. The first edition was among 2,060 U.S. adults ages 18+ and was conducted February 29th, through March 4th, 2024.

Data is weighted where necessary by age, gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, marital status, household size, and household income to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in The Harris Poll surveys. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval.  For this study, the sample data is accurate to within ± 2.5 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. This credible interval will be wider among subsets of the surveyed population of interest.  All sample surveys and polls, whether they use probability sampling or not, are subject to other multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including, but not limited to coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments.