The 'Test Tube' Burger is No Longer a Mystery

torontostandard.com

2 points·queenstreet··3 comments

I think a good strategy for a product like this just coming out of the gate would be to do something fun with it. The reality is that there is a large group of consumers who simply won't touch it. You need to establish a foothold, even if it's just a niche market. License the name "Soylent Green" and market them as Soylent Green Burgers... or something.

Ok, so maybe Soylent Green isn't the best idea, but if I were taking this product to market, I'd be really concerned that a straight forward PR campaign to increase adoption would be met with serious backlash. Sometimes an appeal to humor is a great way to move past a social taboo like, uh, meat grown in a petri dish.

It is sad when you try to sort out exactly how different this is from eating meat from GMO's. That stuff is currently under a microscope, so I don't know who would be up for eating this. What is more morally acceptable? What is healthier? What is the responsible thing to eat?

Marketing this is a catch-22. If you are honest about it, you'll get backlash ("This is unnatural!", etc). If you aren't upfront about it, there will be backlash ("You are hiding something from consumers!"). Unless this stuff tastes amazing, I think the market will have to be some market that doesn't have easy access to meat.

I'm surprised PETA has their name attached to this... They have to get those cow cells from somewhere, right?

I'd eat this. Imagine being able to always get exactly the right cut with exactly the right composition for a reasonable price.

The environmental and health impacts would be enormous to boot.

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