Upside Foods has published an open letter to chickens in the New York Times in a wickedly wonderful campaign by Rethink. The letter is written entirely in chicken, to human readers it is unintelligible. But that’s AOK because chickens are the intended audience.
You see the brand is announcing that its lab-grown chicken has been given an “No Questions” letter by the FDA. In other words, Upside Foods has become the first company in the world to receive a green light from the FDA that its cultivated chicken is safe to eat.
The company grows meat, poultry and seafood directly from animal cells. These products are not vegan or vegetarian. They meat, made without the need to raise and slaughter billions of animals. (It is projected that cultivated meat production at scale will use less water and land than conventionally-produced meat.)
Humans who are not fluent in chicken, but do speak English, can scan the ad’s QR code, or visit upsidechickenletter.com, to see the same ad written in English. In it Upside Foods chief executive officer and founder, Uma Valetti, explains, “We wanted you, chickens of the world, to be the first to know. And we hope it brings as smile to your beaks.”
It may well also bring a smile to humans’ lips, not to mention curiosity to their brains. And considering it’s a “brave new world”, laboratory-made food, the idea’s tone and manner may help to overcome resistance and invite trial.
Credits
Client: Upside Foods
Agency: Rethink
Global Chief Creative Officer: Aaron Starkman
Chief Creative Officer: Mike Dubrick
Creative Director: Noreel Asuro
Senior Art Director: Matt Dunn
Senior Copywriter: Justin Santelli
Chief Strategy Officer: Sean McDonald
Director of Print Production: AJ Merrick
Director of Integrated Content: Todd Harrison
Senior Integrated Producer: Terri Winter, Kate A. Spencer
Group Strategy Director: Julian Morgan
Senior Strategist: Tanvi Swar
Account Management: Jong Lee, Kelly Brennan, Kennedy Crawford
Client Supervisor: Melissa Tobenstein
Studio Director: Brad Kumar
Studio Artist: Todd Bennett
