British Restaurant Chain Pulls Anti-Vegetarian Ads

Ads that poke fun at vegetarians removed by the restaurant chain after boycotts, protests, and social media parodies.


Over the weekend, Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK)—a restaurant with 69 locations in Britain—was forced to pull its latest advertising campaign due to offensive images and messages that angered and upset vegans. Amongst the five pieces of the multi-pronged campaign displayed in the London metro, the ad featured an image of a cow with overlain text that stated, “They eat grass so you don’t have to,” and, “We kill them so you don’t have to.” One portion of the ad—which stated, “You’ll always remember when you gave up being a vegetarian”—sparked parodies on social media such as, “You’ll always remember when your customer base realized that eating dead bodies was barbaric.” A GBK representative stated that three out of the five ads would be removed from circulation. An advertisement created for Australia Day—which makes a similar attempt to poke fun at vegans—has also received backlash and is currently under review by Australia’s Advertising Standards Bureau, which will determine if the ad violates its ethical standards.

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