John Camilleri, managing director of the privately owned Baiada, said the $8 million marketing push for Steggles - which includes television and print ads, new packaging, new livery for Steggles delivery trucks and sponsorship of the Sydney Roosters rugby league team - was designed to boost sales and "address the myths about chicken", according to The Australian Financial Review .

"There are a lot of fallacies about the poultry industry," Mr Camilleri said in the first media interview a Baiada executive had given since the company was established by his grandparents, Celestino and Giovanna Baiada, in 1948.

"We don't keep chickens in cages. We don't feed them steroids or hormones. But those myths continue. We need to address them and explain to people what goes into producing quality chicken meat."

The Steggles campaign, created by ad agency M&C Saatchi and launched yesterday, uses the slogan "Steggler for quality" and features Baiada staff talking about the company's production processes and quality controls.