Impossible burgers come to burger king

[TofuRobot]

(I hope it's not Apiri Fools, lol)

"Made by the startup Impossible Foods, the burger rolled out in 59 stores around St. Louis on Monday. It will soon reach more than 7,000 stores in the U.S., creating what will become the biggest footprint yet for lab-enabled plant-based protein."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chloes...s-to-burger-king-meet-the-impossible-whopper/

 

[Lou]

(I hope it's not Apiri Fools, lol)

"Made by the startup Impossible Foods, the burger rolled out in 59 stores around St. Louis on Monday. It will soon reach more than 7,000 stores in the U.S., creating what will become the biggest footprint yet for lab-enabled plant-based protein."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chloes...s-to-burger-king-meet-the-impossible-whopper/

I'm pretty sure it is not an April Fools. But there might be an interesting back story. Just two weeks ago LiveKindly reported that Morning Star is going to be all vegan by 2021. And since Morning Star is the supplier for BK's veggie burger it seemed like a safe assumption that BK would have a vegan burger by 2021.
https://www.livekindly.co/burger-king-largest-fast-food-chain-vegan-burgers/


Will the Morning Star patty be sold alongside the Impossible Whopper? Or will BK cut ties with Morning star? And how did the Impossible Burger edge out Morning Star? Timing? Taste Test? Cost? And how bad is this news for Morning Star? I gather there aren't too many MS Veggie Burgers sold at BK - but still, it could be bad.

And how long before McDonalds jumps on the bandwagon?

 

[Lou]

Just checked my newsfeed. Two more news sources confirm it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/technology/burger-king-impossible-whopper.html

https://www.cnet.com/news/no-april-fools-joke-this-whopper-is-meat-free-and-youd-never-know/

 

[Lou]

And now the Washington Post has the story too. The Post is behind a paywall - and I've already used up my allotment of free articles. but others might be able to check it out. The one interesting thing about the Post article is that bring up the McDonalds question, too.

So it's not an April Fool's prank. but maybe this is

GWYNETH PALTROW: “I INVENTED VEGANISM."

The actress and entrepreneur—who recently made headlines when she announced that she invented yoga—went on a late-night tirade at a Los Angeles restaurant claiming that veganism was her idea, too.​

Gwyneth Paltrow: “I Invented Veganism.” | VegNews

 

[mavrick45]

1. Super excited about burger king

2. getting pretty sick of hearing Gwyneth Paltrow say stupid things

 

[Jamie in Chile]

I am still not 100% sure it wasn't an April fool after a google search. I'd be about 95% sure. It's April 3rd by now so you would have thought that they would have released some statement by now if it had been an April's fool. All of the media reports, even the local St Louis ones, are just quick write ups of the Burger King promo ad.

No-one actually went down to the restaurant and tried it. So we are still pretty dependent on BK telling the truth there.

But it would be pretty strange tactics of Burger King to make it an April fools joke, lie to journalists to support the joke, let a load of press go out there, and not even correct it by April 3rd.

Still, odd decision to release it on April 1st. Maybe they thought it would get more social media chat with people debating if it was real or not.

PS The Paltrow article does say at the bottom that it was an April fools joke.

 

[Lou]

I am still not 100% sure it wasn't an April fool after a google search. I'd be about 95% sure. It's April 3rd by now so you would have thought that they would have released some statement by now if it had been an April's fool. All of the media reports, even the local St Louis ones, are just quick write ups of the Burger King promo ad.

No-one actually went down to the restaurant and tried it. So we are still pretty dependent on BK telling the truth there.

But it would be pretty strange tactics of Burger King to make it an April fools joke, lie to journalists to support the joke, let a load of press go out there, and not even correct it by April 3rd.

Still, odd decision to release it on April 1st. Maybe they thought it would get more social media chat with people debating if it was real or not.

PS The Paltrow article does say at the bottom that it was an April fools joke.

I don't think there are any pranks here.

1. The BK news now has something like 3 sources. and the article does say its a National rollout that starts in St Louis. but it doesn't actually say when it starts in St. Louis

2. The author of the GP article speculates it might be a prank. But I think she is just being nice. or covering her ***. GP has a history of saying stupid stuff.


-----
Did anyone get pranked or do a prank? I got the dog walking drone advertisement from a friend who thought i should buy one.
https://www.countryliving.com/uk/wildlife/pets/a27001157/dog-drone-april-fools/

 

[Sax]

I live near St. Louis, I'll see if I can confirm in the next few days.

I won't be eating it though.

 

[betiPT]

In Australia BK is called Hungry Jacks and they have a full vegan burger... mayo, cheese and all. I have tried it to support the concept... it’s not bad. But we have a burger joint called Grill’d and OMG their vegan burgers are AMAZING! They also have beyond meat vegan burgers. It is so pleasing to see a varied vegan menu in a burger joint!

 

[TofuRobot]

Y'all know it was kidding about it being an April fool's joke, right?

 

[Lou]

Y'all know it was kidding about it being an April fool's joke, right?

Oh gosh. No. Next time throw in a winky face.

 

[TofuRobot]

Oh gosh. No. Next time throw in a winky face.

I thought the "lol" covered that

 

[Lou]

Jaime and Sax are still skeptical. Next time LOL, winky face, and a HaHa.

LOL. Ha ha.

 

[Sax]

Not skeptical, just not sure if/when it's available

 

[Jamie in Chile]

The advert's voiceover possibly supports the idea that they deliberately intended to get PR by starting a social media discussion about whether this is real or not. Watch the ad again and see what you think. Focus on the voiceover. Is it regular promotional voiceover, or a silly voiceover that would go with a prank? It's neither - it's balanced in between.

They have kind of released it on April Fools day and made it as if the people being pranked are the people eating the burgers. But that doesn't quite work either because they must have recorded this before April 1st so it's kind of fake if it's a pre recorded April 1st prank.

I think marketing fail, but product success.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

OK so I decided to call up the BK at Hampton Ave at Saint Louis and they confirmed as we thought that it was real and they are selling the product now.

 

[Sax]

Ah beat me to it. Bet they don't get many international calls

 

[Blissful]

My partner just looked up this " lab-enabled plant -based protein " burger ...

So , it is a " genetically-engineered heme , from soy and vegetable , which makes it taste like cow and will even "bleed" when you bite into it " ... ! Oh my goodness - l really don't know any vegans who would want that .. Perhaps there are vegans who are only vegan for health reasons , and so they wouldn't care ? I can't think of any other reason why vegans would want their food to taste like animal flesh , or pretend to "bleed" ..

Wow - the modern world eh ? Where food no longer resembles anything close to natural or authentic .
To this little vegan , there is nothing natural or authentic about eating animals , or pretend animals ..

To those who would try this product - be very careful about consuming anything with the word "engineered" in the processing .. How much of a science - experiment do you feel like being ?

Blessings to all .. xo

 

[Tomas]

My partner just looked up this " lab-enabled plant -based protein " burger ...

So , it is a " genetically-engineered heme , from soy and vegetable , which makes it taste like cow and will even "bleed" when you bite into it " ... ! Oh my goodness - l really don't know any vegans who would want that .. Perhaps there are vegans who are only vegan for health reasons , and so they wouldn't care ? I can't think of any other reason why vegans would want their food to taste like animal flesh , or pretend to "bleed" ..

Wow - the modern world eh ? Where food no longer resembles anything close to natural or authentic .
To this little vegan , there is nothing natural or authentic about eating animals , or pretend animals ..

To those who would try this product - be very careful about consuming anything with the word "engineered" in the processing .. How much of a science - experiment do you feel like being ?

Blessings to all .. xo

I agree completely with your statement although I'd rather have people eat pretend animals than real ones...
Just like I'd rather have people drink pretend milk instead of real milk.

I do feel that with current technology they should be able to see whether or not the "labmeat" would be healthy or not without the need for guinnea pigs and I suppose that they wouldn't start selling it if it contains risks.
This is by the way the perfect solution for people that don't become vegetarian or vegan because the taste of meat is "so good" and don't have any other arguments (if I assume the "labmeat" tastes the same as regular meat).

 

[Blissful]

Hi Tomas , yes , of course l would have to agree that l would rather people eat pretend flesh , rather than real flesh .. Ditto milk .. It's amazing how many people don't know how cruel the milk industry is - they seem to have a very romantic view of dairy farms ..
However , l do not believe there is any way scientists can tell if genetically -engineering food is healthy , even with current technology .. I think this is a bit too trusting , especially considering that often ill-effects from products don't become apparent until some years later ..
Remember , where there is profit to be had , unfortunately facts and figures are often manipulated . . After all , the big drug companies are known for distorting and even hiding the truth about drugs - so why would scientifically modified "food" be any different ?

Please be very wary of anything coming out of a lab - food or drugs - does anyone else in here remember thalidomide ?
There are many , many examples of products on the market that are very dubious ..

Wishing you all good health and quality lives ... xx