Plant-Based WhatIF Foods Uses Aliens, Zombies and Cows to Spread Eco-Friendly Message

If aliens have been patiently waiting to take over Earth, they’re plenty hacked off about the environmental damage being done on a daily basis. What kind of world are humans leaving them? That’s one of the cheeky questions behind a just-launched campaign from plant-based startup WhatIF Foods. Using a whimsical scenario to tackle a serious subject, the brand enlists little green beings from space—along with dinosaurs, flying cows and zombies—to formally introduce itself to the U.S. market. The animated ads, from agency of record fable.works, lean into WhatIF’s superfood-centric recipe and regenerative farming process, aiming to educate consumers about the origins of its milk alternative and instant noodles. The approach is a departure in the category, where much of the marketing in recent years has focused on products’ flavor profiles, with the goal of convincing shoppers that plant-based products taste as good as animal-derived food. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvV_vOqGf0g&list=PLiGen_nGM4dpTfy1hNUvmCkXOvYuXwgY7&index=1 “Aliens becoming regenerative farming advocates so that they’ll have a nicer planet to absorb into their galaxial takeover felt more interesting than ‘planet-friendly,’” Rick Williams, the agency’s co-founder, told Adweek. The creative also speaks to the brand’s mission to “constantly improve, listen, research and innovate.” Playful with a cause The upbeat tone, “fun color palette” and cute characters are meant to be eye-catching but not flippant, agency creatives said. “In the age of doomscrolling, who wants to hear more bad news?” Marcel Yunes, agency co-founder, told Adweek. “WhatIF is such a band of optimists, the playfulness just felt natural even in the face of a myriad of global concerns.” Fable.works won the account in summer 2022 and partnered with animation house LOBO and the music-special effects team at Human Worldwide to produce the work under the tagline “A Better Better.” In addition to the anthem spot, there are several 15-second vignettes, with additional ads via social, out of home and truck wraps. Beyond tasty With voiceover from WhatIF’s top exec, the campaign highlights the company’s BamNut Milk, which debuts in a space full of entrenched non-dairy competitors like Oatly, Silk, So Delicious and Califia Farms, to name a few. While the 60-second hero ad touts the drink’s “creamy velvet” texture, most of the narrative hinges on its climate-conscious bona fides and major ingredient: the Bambara groundnut. "Planet-based milk" is the new plant-based milk. “If we were to define ourselves just by making tasty products, we would be just another plant-based food company,” Sabine Schindlbauer, WhatIF’s marketing and communications director, told Adweek. “Our mission is to really go beyond and create a range of regenerative foods.” The company’s point of difference is the Bambara nut, “a regenerative crop which has been under-cultivated and overlooked,” Schindlbauer said. “It thrives with very little water and in poor soil. And as it grows, it leaves organic matter that heals the soil.” Since many Americans may have never heard of the Bambara nut, a protein-rich legume, “A Better Better” aims to make the ingredient accessible. Planet-based food At the risk of appearing grandiose, the marketing positions WhatIF as “bigger than plant-based food—it’s planet-based food,” which creatives say can stand up to scrutiny at a time of rampant greenwashing and greenhushing. WhatIF has “this wonderful dissatisfaction with the status quo,” Yunes said. “They show up with solutions, they make people and places healthier, and they still have the humility to admit that no matter how they innovate and improve, more change isn’t just possible—it’s required.” Regeneration is “more than a buzzword,” creatives said, noting the education and resources that WhatIF invests in its farmer communities. Top 10 Plant-Based Food Marketing Moves of 2022 “They’ve embraced this charming urgency that we’re all here temporarily, so we’ve got to go big now,” Williams said. The brand’s founder and CEO, himself a former farmer, said it requires “radical honesty” to improve the ecosystem. “Incremental change won’t do,” Chris Langwallner said. “We can’t just kick the can of sustainability down the road anymore.” WhatIF, based in Singapore, first dropped its products in Australia, New Zealand, Ghana and Malaysia. In the U.S., the brand debuted in May 2022 and is now available in about 120 retailers, mainly in New York, Southern California and the Pacific Northwest, with that number expected to grow to 500 by next month. It also sells through its newly redesigned website and via Amazon.