Burger King’s Optical Illusion Wants to Trick Meat Eaters Into Trying Plant-Based Food

The brand promotes its meatless menu as flexitarian eating is on the rise

As plant-based eating is on the rise, Burger King has been on a drive to promote its meatless menu. Its latest campaign tries to trick meat lovers into considering alternative options by presenting them with an optical illusion.

At first glance, the brand’s print and outdoor ads appear to depict real meat. Upon closer inspection, however, the images are close-up shots of vegetables including red pepper, beetroot and radicchio. 

The global campaign—titled “Meat?”—is a striking visual reminder of how closely plants can mirror beef. With the tagline, “Sorry for the confusion, meat lovers,” it invites meat eaters to take the leap and try Burger King’s plant-based Whopper.

Upon closer inspection, Burger King’s ads show vegetables that resemble meat.David Madrid

Creative agency David Madrid created the work, which will run in markets including Germany, Costa Rica, Mexico and Brazil. 

The agency challenged a food photographer and stylist to shoot vegetables in a way that would resemble meat, executive creative director André Toledo explained. 

“The idea was to create ads that would make people ask themselves, ‘Wait, is this meat or is this a plant?’” he added.

Creative agency David challenged a food photographer and stylist to shoot vegetables to resemble meat.David Madrid

“At Burger King, our plant-based products often feel, taste and look like real meat, yet many guests are skeptical. We wanted to bring a visually powerful message that makes you reconsider that not everything in life is what is seems to be,” Iwo Zakowski, head of global brand marketing at Burger King, said in a statement.

Last month, in another campaign promoting its plant-based Whopper, Burger King Germany unearthed four everyday people who share a name with major celebrities such as Michael Jordan and Oprah Winfrey. The idea was that just as these people are often mistaken for stars, its plant-based products could be confused for meat. German agency Grabarz & Partner created the ads.

Last year, Grabarz & Partner also opened Burger King’s first entirely plant-based restaurant as a pop-up store in Cologne, Germany, with a menu of meatless items including plant-based burgers, sandwiches and nuggets.

CREDITS:

Brand: Burger King

Clients: António Marques, Sabrina Ferretti, Iwo Zakowski, Andrea Beer
Agency: David Madrid
Global CCO: Pancho Cassis
Global COO: Sylvia Panico
Executive Creative Directors: Saulo Rocha, André Toledo
Creative Director: Sébastien Rouvière
Art Director: Camilo Jimenez
Copywriter: Sébastien Rouvière
Head of Production: Alejandro Falduti
Head of Account: María Garcia Herranz
Group Account Director: Rafael Giorgino
Strategy Director: Patricia Urgoiti
Photographer: Pal Allan
Food Stylist: Niklas Hansen
Producer: Louise Hall
DOP/BTS: Jakob Engwall
Editor: Cristian Migueliz