'Big Beef' and Impossible Foods Square Off Over Regional Super Bowl Ad

Plant-based company parodies CCF's spelling bee spot in response

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Plant-based meat alternatives—like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, both of which exploded in popularity last year—seem to have hit a nerve in the meat industry.

In a regional Super Bowl ad buy in the Washington D.C. area, the Center for Consumer Freedom sought to sow doubt about the safety of ingredients in meat alternatives.

Here’s the gist: A spelling bee official offers the word methylcellulose to a young contestant, which he describes as “a chemical laxative that’s also used in synthetic meat.”

The child is confused, and fails to spell it correctly.

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