Dive Brief:

• SunChips, the Frito-Lay line of whole grain chips, has teamed with television host Bobby Berk on a virtual art contest, according to a press release. The effort is part of the brand's "Be Your Own Wave" push — its first national campaign in four years. 
• With its Art Seen effort, SunChips is asking artists of all mediums to submit artwork via a microsite through Nov. 28. SunChips and Berk will select five artists that will receive a $10,000 cash prize, have a painted mural replicate their work, see their art placed in ads across the brand's social channels and be able to connect consumers to their personal websites through SunChips.com.
• In partnership with one of the stars of Netflix's "Queer Eye," SunChips' virtual art contest allows the brand to collect both user-generated content (UGC) and first-party data as part of a purpose-driven effort that seeks to boost artists that have been affected by the pandemic.

Dive Insight:

SunChips' Art Seen virtual art contest serves several purposes for the Frito-Lay chip brand — one of the marketer's fastest growing brands, Frito-Lay vice president of marketing Ciara Dilley said in a press release. Beyond giving five artists cash prizes, placing artwork on the brand's social ads and linking to artists' personal websites through its own could help boost a handful of artists that have been negatively affected by the pandemic.

The effort demonstrates Frito-Lay's continued commitment to the artistic community, and follows a similar — if better funded — effort by sister brand Doritos, which in June launched the "Solid Black" initiative that sought to boost the voices of and provide resources to Black creators. 

In addition, the collection of artwork through a microsite allows the chip brand to collect valuable first-party data and UGC. Campaigns that collect first-party data have become a priority — especially for CPG brands that don't control the majority of point-of-sale transactions — in order to collect data that is increasingly useful amid changes to the data privacy landscape, including the forthcoming deprecation of third-party cookies.

To boost the campaign, SunChips has tapped Bobby Berk, a design expert and one of the co-hosts of Netflix's "Queer Eye," who is set to host reality competition series "Blown Away: Christmas" on the streamer. The hosts of "Queer Eye" — especially hairstylist Jonathan Van Ness — have been frequent brand partners and ambassadors, helping marketers to connect with young audiences that have flocked to Netflix shows.