Eat the Cheese, Save the World? Cheeky Plant-Based Food Ad Says It Can’t Hurt

Bike to work, skip the burger, switch to solar—there are plenty of everyday changes that could begin to chip away at global warming. But at what point does the intensifying crisis seem far too massive for mere mortals to tackle?

And how is any of this funny?

A startup called Plonts, makers of fermented faux cheese, found a way to inject some humor into the weighty subject, hiring actress-comedian Kate Berlant to lead its first marketing campaign, a surreal and twisted take on the Sisyphean myth.

The 60-second spot, from creative studio Easy Pete’s, also jabs unsubtly at corporate greenwashing while challenging the traditional ad norms in the plant-based category. Plus, it has laser beams, infomercial flair and murderous cheddar.

“It’s never fun to think about civilization crumbling,” said Zach Tavel, co-founder of Easy Pete’s and the ad’s director. “But we were considering this existential burden we all feel and wondering if it was something we could collectively laugh about.”

For inspiration, creatives pulled from Greek mythology, which Tavel called “the original absurdist comedies.”

In the hero spot, Berlant’s character is a stand-in for the all-powerful Zeus, looming large over Sisyphus and gleefully breaking the fourth wall. 

Berlant’s long-suffering costar, meanwhile, pushes a massive wheel of Plonts cheese up an ancient-looking mountain, “symbolizing the futility in believing that adopting a plant-based diet will save the planet,” she says in the video.

The team used old-school techniques like miniatures and models, with an assist from London-based animation studio Blinkink, to illustrate the unofficial tagline, “melting cheese for a melting planet.”

There’s a final cheeky message at the end of the video: “Plonts—it won’t save the planet, but it probably won’t hurt.”

Down to clown

Following the plant-based ad playbook—which often leans into pastoral images—would not have worked for Plonts, per Tavel. The Silicon Valley-based brand is made from soybeans and microbes via a fermentation process, so “all that field and farmer imagery is not true to the business.”

As for the Plonts crew, they were down to clown, Tavel said, given that the target audience is young, urban, early adopters, flexitarians, rabid foodies and other trendsetters.

“The biggest risk a new brand faces is that nobody cares,” according to Plonts co-founder Josh Moser. “So many sustainable food brands speak so earnestly about the very real problems they are working to solve, and we felt like people were starting to tire of that.”

Plonts intends to “talk about serious things by saying unserious things,” Moser added. “That drove us to do an anti-ad of sorts, parodying typical mission-driven branding and the pressure it places on consumers.” 

Selling sustainability

As a nascent company, Plonts is diving into a segment that’s already crowded and becoming more so with a mix of newbies and legacy players like Follow Your Heart, Violife, Babybel, Miyoko’s, Climax Foods and Perfect Day, among others.

Standing out won’t be easy, but going the comedy route “is a clever move, given the heavy tone and politicization of climate in this year’s U.S. presidential election,” Jennifer Stojkovic, founder of the influential Vegan Women Summit, told ADWEEK.

In the broader plant-based space, brands like Beyond Meat have built campaigns around “plate to planet” themes, with mixed to poor results. While consumers rank environmental protection as a priority, that’s generally not how they make their purchasing decisions, especially as inflation rages and plant-based food typically costs more than its animal-based counterparts. 

A top buying motivator continues to be taste, with established brands like Impossible Foods, Daiya and others crafting their marketing messages accordingly (and sometimes going for the funny bone in the process).

“It remains to be seen if the sustainability approach has stickiness in the U.S., as much of the previous success of this messaging from brands like Oatly was in the European market,” Stojkovic said.

In its video, dubbed “The Hole-y Myth,” Plonts promises consumers that its product “really tastes like cheese” and uses its meltability as a differentiator. 

Because its distribution is currently limited to restaurants, it’s unusual for Plonts to advertise at all. But the food tech startup is using its coming-out campaign as a brand builder and traffic driver to its eatery partners, such as Court Street Grocers and S&P Lunch in New York, and Shuggie’s Pizza, Montage Lounge and others in San Francisco. The spot will air on over-the-top streaming services.

Sisyphus IRL 

Aside from the video, Plonts is launching an experiential activation, putting toga-clad brand ambassadors on the streets of New York and San Francisco. In a nod to Sisyphus, the actors will be pushing oversized wheels of cheese through the subways and around high-traffic neighborhoods. 

Paid social buys will continue the humor, with different themes. TikTok and Instagram content takes cues from the current election fever sweeping the country with flag-waving scenes and “brought to you by Americans for Plonts” disclaimers.

Berlant—an off-Broadway theater veteran and scene stealer from TV series Search Party and film Sorry to Bother You—helped shape the creative and will continue to collaborate with the brand on a business level, Tavel said. She’s also promoting the video on her social channels.

Plonts, which raised $12 million in venture capital in 2022, has mimicked the Impossible Foods model of debuting its product first in hip restaurants. If the company follows the Impossible example, it could go next to fast-casual and fast-food chains, with an eventual rollout to groceries and specialty shops.