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Plant-based meat giant Impossible Foods has launched its first-ever mainstream advertising campaign targeting mass consumers. The “We Are Meat” advert features its iconic bleeding heme-filled beef Impossible Burger, claiming that its patty is meat crafted from only plants is made for meat lovers.
Debuted on Tuesday (April 6), the brand new “We Are Meat” commercial marks the first mass-market advertising campaign launched by the Silicon Valley food tech behind the famous Impossible Burger. The nationwide integrated campaign will showcase on U.S. television, digital and social media channels, and is aimed at building awareness of its flagship plant-based patty, which is currently available in 20,000 retail locations and 30,000 restaurants across the country.
Produced by Wieden+Kennedy, the Portland-based advertising agency best known for its work with sportswear giant Nike, the new provocative campaign “proudly and unapologetically” describes the plant-based Impossible Burger as meat for real meat lovers and seeks to turn the conventional idea that meat must exclusively come from animals on its head.
We are investing in a nationwide campaign to show Americans that Impossible products deliver the whole delicious, meaty experience people crave.
Patrick Brown, Founder & CEO, Impossible Foods
The move comes as the startup continues to ramp up growth and “take advantage of mounting economies of scale”, having recently slashed its retail and wholesale prices by double-digits as Covid-19 propels its “largest operational expansion” yet in the company’s history.
“We are investing in a nationwide campaign to show Americans that Impossible products deliver the whole delicious, meaty experience people crave — without the disastrous environmental toll of livestock,” commented Impossible Foods founder and CEO Patrick Brown.
Made from soy protein, coconut oil, sunflower oil and potato protein, Impossible patties require 96% less land, 87% less water and emit 89% fewer greenhouse gas emissions compared to its cow-based counterpart.
We built this campaign to introduce Impossible products to consumers nationwide as delicious meat — no qualifications or compromises needed.
Jessie Becker, SVP Marketing, Impossible Foods
“We can replace yesterday’s ridiculous, animal-based technology with a categorically better way of transforming plants into meat. And we can do it with zero compromise on taste, nutrition, convenience or family traditions,” Brown added.
There will be five television spots in total, including “We Love Meat”, “Meat Places”, “Yes We Do”, “Mmmmmmmmmm”, and “300%” – all speaking directly to meat eaters who have yet to have their first taste of the Impossible Burger.
According to the food tech, its sustainability mission is centred on capturing the mainstream consumer, and it’s well on the way to doing so with 9 out of 10 people who currently purchase and consume its plant-based alternatives being omnivores rather than vegetarians or vegans. Last year, the company boldly claimed that 92% of its Impossible Burger sales have directly displaced animal meat purchases.
“Once people try Impossible Burger they are blown away by its taste. But consumers are skeptical based on years of sub-par experiences with plant-based products,” explained Jessie Becker, senior vice president of marketing at Impossible Foods.
“We built this campaign to introduce Impossible products to consumers nationwide as delicious meat — no qualifications or compromises needed.”
Other food techs have also launched eye-catching advertising campaigns to capture the mainstream shopper, such as Barcelona-based Heura, who exhibited on a giant billboard in central Madrid the words: “one beef burger pollutes more than your car”. The company was later sued by the beef industry and took the advert down.
Swedish oat milk giat Oatly has also turned heads by airing a Super Bowl commercial of its CEO Toni Petersson singing an original jingle he wrote called “Wow, No Cow”, which quickly led to a flurry of wide-ranging reactions on Twitter in an impressive mass publicity move.
All images & videos courtesy of Impossible Foods.
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