Kevin Hart, Spank Horton go Beyond Meat

Plant-based food is a thing, and recent years have seen aggressive development of what some call 'fake meat' and others 'meat-free products'. Beyond Meat, promoted here in this comic double-whammy from the US actor/writers Kevin Hart and Spank Horton, is one of the best-known names in the sector. However, the Los Angeles-based company suffered sinking stocks over 2021 after what looked like a wildly successful IPO (initial public offering) in 2019. Reasons cited include reduced supply and demand during the Covid situation, rising labour costs, and the entry of a slew of new competitors. In 2022, celebrity Kim Kardashian was brought in to boost the brand, with mixed results. Her performance didn't halt the stock slide, and footage of her apparently relishing various Beyond Meat products soon came under derisive fire when sharp-eyed viewers spotted editing that indicated she may not have actually put any of the food into her mouth, let alone eaten and enjoyed it. Beyond Meat Chairman Seth Goldman hit headlines alongside Kardashian as his 1998 venture, Honest Tea, was cut from the production line at Coca Cola, which had bought the environmentally purposeful upstart in 2008 (40%) and 2011. In 2021, as Beyond Meat stocks were declining, Goldman applied his entrepreneurial skills to launching a new company, Eat the Change. Beyond Meat creates meat-free products that imitate the 'real thing', i.e. addressing an audience that wants to make a 'healthier' choice than real meat. Eat The Change, by contrast, deploys a chef to transform imperfectly-shaped mushrooms that might otherwise be wasted into mushroom jerky snacks. What do you think of the Hart/Horton ad for Beyond Meat? Fun and effective, disingenuous - fake meat is also heavy on resources and is highly questionable in health terms - or a disappointment for their own fans? As one viewer remarks, "Regenerative cattle grazing is better for the planet than fake lab meat. Come on Kevin." Your thoughts?

Keywords: Beyond Meat "Take Your BBQ Beyond", plant-based burgers, meat-free burgers, fake meat, food and health, climate change, Kevin Hart and Spank Horton, Kevin Hart commercials, funny ads, Hartbeat