Impossible Foods Channels Broadway Musicals as It Vows to 'Make Meat History'
"Let's think back to our carnivorous fate,
When a caveman saw a mammoth and was like, um...
How would that taste?
Oh, since then, what a journey it's been.
An incisor-o-rama parade of meat, friends."
Hamilton it ain't. Still, Impossible Foods' Broadway-style "Making Meat History" effort—developed with Terry Crews' Super Serious agency and RSA director Jake Scott—has its charms.
These include a canny self-awareness, silly slant rhymes, plus a storyline spanning centuries. Along with Cro-Magnon, we meet Huns, Ancient Egyptians and Aztecs.
They're carnivores, all. But never fear:
"There's a brand new meat to decant.
From a delicious new animal called ... the plant!"
That meaty melody bowed during last night's Grammy Awards.
A second campaign from Terry's crew, "The Summer of Impossible," employs product-focused vignettes to explain the value and taste proposition of the brand's plant-based offerings.
Naturally, you're asking: Do the burgers speak? Well, um...
Of course they do! But they don't flap their buns, so it's not too ridiculous and they don't drone on. They communicate a pithy brand message and then they're devoured, one imagines. (Off-camera. Crew's known for his decorum and restraint, after all.)
"We need to welcome consumers into the plant-based space and give them a reason to choose Impossible," says Leslie Sims, chief marketing and creative officer at Impossible Foods. "These campaigns are lighthearted and approachable by design to make the choice between our products and animal meat feel less intimidating. We want consumers to know they don't have to give up the meat they love. Impossible products are meat—just made from plants—so they're still delicious and have a ton of other benefits."
The work seeks to subvert category cliches in a fun, breezy way. At that It succeeds, providing sharable snacklets to assuage social-media appetites.
"Terry created Super Serious as a vehicle for entertaining the world, and we think this work is a great illustration of that," agency co-founder Paul Sutton tells Muse.
"We chose Impossible as our first commercial client because we love what the company stands for—saving the world with delicious cheeseburgers," adds Matt O'Rourke, also a co-founder. "We got demos from about eight composers, and ultimately landed on Justin Hori from Racket Club L.A. He brought an earnestness to the song that we just fell in love with."
Musical theater vet Noah Weisberg sings lead and stars in the video.
CREDITS
Spots: "Meat History" :90, :60
Client: Impossible Foods
Leslie Sims - Chief Marketing and Chief Creative Officer
Michael Bortinger - Marketing Director
Anna Cushing - Senior Marketing Manager
Tim Dale - Media Manager
Becca van Stolk-Cooke- Consumer Insights Manager
Company: SUPER SERIOUS
Co-Founder/ Chief Executive Officer: Terry Crews
Co-Founder/ Chief Creative Officer: Matt O’Rourke
Managing Partner/ Chief Operating Officer: Paul Sutton
Creative Director: Bryan Lee
Copywriter: Leslie Sims
Executive Producer: Jacquelyn Maloney
Music Supervisor: Brad Nayman
Business Affairs Company: Hailstorm
Business Affairs Manager: Whitney Vose
Talent Solutions, 3rd Party SAG Signatory: Mark Cross
Production Company: RSA Films
Director: Jake Scott
Production Company, President: Luke Ricci
Production Company, Executive Producer: Buddy Brakha
Line Producer: Morna Ciraki
Director of Photography: Tobias Schleissler
Production Designer: Happy Massee
Post Production Company: Uppercut Edit
Post Production Company Owner/ Editor: Micah Scarpelli
Post Production Executive Producer: Mila Davis
Post Production Head of Production: Jared Thomas
Post Production Producer: Chris Muldoon
Assistant Editors: Harrison Draper, Kasey Winters
Head of Visual Effects: John Geehreng
Senior Flame Artist/ VFX Supervisor: Steve Cokonis
VFX Art Director: Maxime Benjamin
VFX Assist: Ernie Armitage
Color Company: Company 3 L.A.
President/ CEO/ Colorist: Stefan Sonnenfeld
Color Head of Production: Blake Rice
Music + Audio Company: Racket Club
Music Track: “Making Meat History”
Creative Director/ Partner/ Composer: Justin Hori
Sound Designer /Audio Engineer: Ashley “Koomba” Simmons
Music + Audio Creative Producer: Adrian Womack
Music + Audio Associate Producer: Becky Mathai
Cultural Consultants: The Cultural Consultants
Cultural Consultants: Jessica Bodoh-Creed, Elizabeth McLean Macy, John A. Torres
Virtual Production Company: AR WALL
Virtual Production Supervisors: Rene Amador, Jocelyn Hsu
Virtual Production Producers: Ryan Arms, Jon Sims
Virtual Production Coordinator: CJ Galarza
***
Spots: “Confused” :30, “Jobs” :15, “Touchy” :15, “Magic” :15, “Lettuce” :15, “Cholestersome” :15, “Buns” :15, “Corn” :15, “You’re a Plant” :06, “Hormones” :06, ++
Client: Impossible Foods
Leslie Sims - Chief Marketing and Chief Creative Officer
Michael Bortinger - Marketing Director
Anna Cushing - Senior Marketing Manager
Tim Dale - Media Manager
Becca van Stolk-Cooke- Consumer Insights Manager
Company: SUPER SERIOUS
Co-Founder/ Chief Executive Officer: Terry Crews
Co-Founder/ Chief Creative Officer: Matt O’Rourke
Managing Partner/ Chief Operating Officer: Paul Sutton
Creative Directors: Bryan Lee, Catie Blalock, Aaron Konter
Executive Producer: Jacquelyn Maloney
Business Affairs Company: Hailstorm
Business Affairs Manager: Whitney Vose
Production Company: Sugarhi
Director: Jake Banks
Production Company, Executive Producer: Santino Slad
Line Producer: Katelyn Pippy
Director of Photography: Florian Stadler
Post Production Company: Uppercut Edit
Post Production Company Owner: Micah Scarpelli
Post Production Executive Producer: Mila Davis
Post Production Head of Production: Jared Thomas
Editor: Ben McCambridge
Assistant Editor: Harrison Draper
Colorist: Taylor Schafer
Senior Flame Artist/ VFX Supervisor: Mitch Gardiner
Senior Flame Artist/ VFX Supervisor: Steve Cokonis
Junior Flame Artist: Alice Cen
Audio Company: Racket Club
Creative Director/ Partner/ Sound Designer: Justin Hori
Audio Creative Producer: Adrian Womack
Audio Engineer: Tim West
