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Tesco’s latest Food Love Story advert has won praise from viewers for “being brave enough to say what so many are saying.”
A new advert from Britain’s largest supermarket, Tesco, has been described as “brave” by Head of Plant-Based Innovation Derek Sarno for featuring a young girl telling her father “I don’t want to eat animals anymore”.
The advert features a young girl telling her father Carl: “Daddy, I don’t want to eat animals anymore.” Carl responds to say that whilst he loves meat, he loves his daughter more.
Thanks to Tesco’s new Plant Chef range, Carl is able to swap out sausages for Tesco’s meat-free Cumberland-style bangers in the family’s favourite casserole recipe so the whole family can “still enjoy his famous sausage casserole – with a twist.”
The pair then tuck into the dish with Carl proclaiming: “It’s just as tasty as it used to be” whilst his daughter declares the dish is now “better actually”.
Brave
Speaking to Plant Based News, Sarno said he encouraged the retailer not to shy away from sharing the powerful message at the heart of the advert. “The whole team wanted a food love story focusing on plant-based [food] and the new launch of Plant Chef,” he said.
“We just recipe approved and encouraged them to be brave and keep the part when the girl says she doesn’t want to eat animals. It’s the best part.”
Criticism
Whilst many people have taken to social media to praise Tesco saying the advert shows ‘the world is changing’, the National Farmers Union has released a statement accusing Tesco of ‘demonizing’ farmers.
“The NFU believes that messaging such as this is demonizing meat as a food group, which not only has negative connotations for farmers but also for the avocation of customers eating a healthy balanced diet,” it said.
“The NFU is clear that food and nutrition must be looked at as a whole, rather than food groups in isolation. Meat as a food group provides naturally rich in protein and are a good source of iron, zinc and essential vitamins.
“There are certain parts of the population, especially teenage girls, who are currently not eating sufficient quantities of these micro-nutrients to fulfill their dietary requirement.”
