By Claire Reilly

Breville was riding high on the juice train last night, with the launch of the new documentary film ‘Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead’ by Australian entrepreneur Joe Cross.

The film follows Cross’ journey from obesity and sickness to a healthy lifestyle, thanks to a diet of only freshly-squeezed fruit and vegetable juices. In what is sure to be quite a coup for Breville, the film prominently features a Breville juicer in multiple scenes.

Speaking at the film launch last night, Cross said that the choice of the Breville appliance was made quite by chance – it was a product selected off the shelf of his local Crate and Barrel store in New York. But what began a random choice has turned into a lucrative cross-promotional opportunity for Breville, with the company set to capitalise on the film’s release even further.

“We’ve been in discussions with Joe Cross all year, brainstorming ways to maximise this opportunity,” said Breville’s general manager of marketing, Scott Brady.

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“It was a genuine coincidence that he bought a Breville juicer for his road trip but since the documentary launched on Netflix in the US in July, our juicer sales have more than doubled to the point we’ve had to put most retailers on allocation.

Throughout the film, Cross uses his Breville juicer to make various dark green concoctions, with the Breville logo appearing throughout. With the documentary DVD set to go on sale in the fruit and vegetable section of Woolworths stores nationwide, this brand exposure will no doubt be far-reaching. As a result, Breville has launched a new campaign promoting healthy juicing.

“Joe will be doing a number of in-store talks for Breville and we want to encourage retailers to maintain their juicer stock levels. We will continue to support the category into 2012 with consumer media and online activity. With a range of Breville juicers available there’s a model to meet every consumer’s needs and budget.”

“Joe is extremely charismatic and is looking forward to sharing his personal story and his ‘reboot your life’ philosophy. We will endeavour to advise our customers of these dates in advance,” Brady said.

Breville general manager of marketing, Scott Brady, filmmaker Joe Cross, and Breville CEO Jack Lord.