Vegans are rather miffed that they became the butt of a Super Bowl joke Sunday night, and they’re taking it out on Korean carmaker, Hyundai.
Hyundai’s Super Bowl commercial, which aired in the first half of the game, features “elevator operator” Jason Bateman, who directs his passengers through a sort-of “purgatory:” they go up in the elevator to life’s more pleasurable experiences, and down to those experiences people might want to avoid, like jury duty, or a “vegan dinner party.”
“Vegan dinner party,” Bateman says as the doors ding open. “Is that even a thing?”
“We’re having beetloaf — Sergio’s specialty,” says the smiling host as she approaches her guests while extending a purple gelatinous concoction.
Sergio takes a bow while one of the dinner guests retches.
The passengers are then “rescued” and whisked off to “heaven” — the process of buying and owning a Hyundai vehicle.
Vegans, known for their thick skin and ability to self-deprecate, were immediately incensed that a vegan dinner party was portrayed as an option for those forced to atone for their sins after death. They would prefer, they told The Washington Post, to have been on the “up” side of the elevator’s journey.
“The trend of 2019 is taking the elevator UP to vegan dinner parties (and an Earth, heart, & animal-friendly lifestyle),” People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — also not a particularly humorous group — tweeted. “Instead of buying a car from people with outdated ideas, we suggest a vegan Smart car by Mercedes. great mileage & acceleration, turns on a dime.”
PETA was also incensed, separately, at Big Boi of Outkast, who wore a giant fur coat during his halftime show performance. They asked Big Boi for a generous donation to animal charities and to swear off fur altogether. Big Boi did not respond.
Vegans involved in the backlash seemed particularly angry that Hyundai suggested vegan food is somehow unappetizing, and that a vegan dinner party would involve a gelatinous mass of beet-flavored goo in place of a true meat-substitute loaf. So in response, vegans Tweeted photos of their meat- and dairy-free Super Bowl spreads, not all of which were more appetizing than “beet-loaf.”
Yep, @Hyundai, no one likes vegans or vegan food. Way to show you’re tuned out of the future and don’t care about the environment or animals or the health of your customers–or the fact that it’s possible to do better.
Guess I’ll go eat my grass now. #SuperBowl #punchdown https://t.co/KENOdu1x6H
— Molly Elwood (@mollyelwood) February 3, 2019
Look, I can take a joke. Honestly. But @Hyundai trying to drag vegans for eating gross food? 1993 called and it wants its joke back. Veganism has consistently been a global top food trend the last three years running. Hope your cars are better than your marketing department.
— Ari Solomon (@VeganAri) February 4, 2019
The response became so prickly that Hyundai was eventually forced to apologize.
“We actually love vegan food and are glad it’s going more mainstream,” Hyundai said in a statement to its vegan detractors.
“We are responding in social media that we totally respect veganism and are happy that it has become mainstream,” a Hyundai spokesperson also told The Washington Post. “We also hope that vegans have a sense of humor just like the dentists, parents, judges, flight attendants, doctors and even car dealers, the others stops represented on ‘The Elevator.’ ”
They even offered up their recipe for the now infamous “beet loaf,” in the hopes that some vegans might have suggestions on how to improve their dinner party fare.
Awesome! If you go to one, here’s a recipe you can try. Glad you loved your Santa Fe. We think you will love the Palisade, too. https://t.co/Xw2X8rKmnR pic.twitter.com/3yx34QE7bB
— Hyundai USA (@Hyundai) February 3, 2019
Other than with vegans, the ad reportedly played well. It was judged the fourth best ad of the night by independent auditors.