Super Bowl Sunday brought us a lot of new commercials, some are so great they even have us thinking and talking about them Monday morning. But the conversations out there aren’t all giggles and ill-advised office reenactments. Some people are pissed. Like PETA.
In Hyundai’s new commercial, a bell-hop Jason Bateman ushers an elevator full of people to various less-than-desirable scenarios such as jury duty, root canal treatments, and scoring the middle seat of a long flight. It all leads to the message that buying a car is a real chore, but not when you use Hyundai’s app. Of course, that isn’t why PETA and (theoretically a few vegans) feel attacked, that would be absurd. Their gripe is with the inclusion of the “vegan dinner party” as one of the many floors Bateman stops at, remarking “Is that even a thing?” as a woman tries to serve some “beet-loaf.”
Check it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5FzKB5TW0Y&feature=youtu.be
Seems harmless, but PETA has gotta be PETA so they took offense tweeting their disdain and suggesting instead to take your vegan dollars to Mercedes. Kind of a weird and random endorsement, but they were joined by some equally miffed vegans.
ICYMI: The trend of 2019 is taking the elevator UP to vegan dinner parties (and an Earth, heart, & animal-friendly lifestyle). Instead of buying a car from people with outdated ideas, we suggest a vegan Smartcar by Mercedes. Great mileage & acceleration, turns on a dime.
— PETA (@peta) January 31, 2019
https://twitter.com/canrugger/status/1092211516290392064
https://twitter.com/Manberlin/status/1092210348285968385
Fortunately, the overall response from people has been that PETA and these few vegan outliers need to chill the f*ck out. This is just a commercial people, let’s not get all Gillette up in here. But also, meat eaters, posting a gif of a juicy steak being cut is in poor form. Make fun of PETA all you want, but you don’t have to throw your habits in their face (we’ve covered this before).
That being said, Twitter users let PETA have it.
https://twitter.com/purinsesusafaia/status/1091543728144080896
Instead of a SmartCar, May we recommend obtaining a sense of humor?
— Eric J Planey (@EricPlaney) February 4, 2019
I used to support you, but you guys have become so insane lately.
— South African in The Netherlands 🇿🇦🇳🇱 (@FatCatSpacy) February 4, 2019
https://twitter.com/macejrm/status/1091382906289876992
But it wasn’t all negative. Some vegans wanted to share with Hyundai that they’re capable of making some damn good food, with one user offering to send a copy of her vegan cookbook.
I’d love to send you a copy of my book to add to your vegan collection of recipes! 😉😉
— The Vegan 8 (@TheVegan8) February 4, 2019
Hyundai’s response? Send it over! The Hyundai twitter account seems to be handling upset vegans with tact, grace, and a listening ear. They certainly didn’t mean any offense. How is PETA handling everything? Well, they’re railing at Hyundai one minute and berating Big Boi for wearing fur the next, so we guess everything is in its right place.
