Adweek, calling Steak-umm “a nationally trending thought leader,” named one of its spots among the best ads of 2020 and cited it as a top brand “rocking TikTok marketing” in 2021.
Addicted to meat?
The centerpiece of the effort is a four-minute video, directed by Borat 2’s Jason Woliner, that was shot in Austin, Texas, this fall. Participants were, indeed, questioned on camera about their vegan lifestyle and offered a cheesesteak that contained no animal protein.
Working in real time to distort the reviews and reactions, creatives came up with the PSA’s deep fakes, which included one man saying “I might be addicted to meat at this point—it’s so good,” and a woman adding, “I could never go back to being a vegan.”
“We didn’t spend months—it took about 20 minutes,” Tombras said, noting that the reveal to the focus group elicited a textbook perfect response for a commercial. “The hope was to get a rise out of them, and it worked—they were surprised, then angry.”
Ultimately, once the ruse was explained, the participants agreed that the message should be widely disseminated.
“So many people are quick to believe what they see and hear off the bat without doing any research to where this could literally start wars,” one woman said.
Another brought up the political race on the horizon: “I think in this next election cycle, it’s going to be insane what we’re up against.”
‘Emotional roller coaster’
Forging an initial path with its Twitter account, with profound and empathetic posts from then-agency Allebach Communications, Steak-umm gained a cult social following. Many marketing professionals hopped on the bandwagon.
