Why This Racy Vegan Ad Is Causing A Stir

Got any Valentine's Day plans? Maybe you're sharing a box of chocolates with your beau, cracking into some lobster tails together, and capping the evening with a pair of champagne cocktails. Or perhaps you're just lying low — whether you happen to be hitched or not. No matter what you're doing, know that candy, specialty food, and wine companies have been grabbing for your attention over the past couple of weeks, attempting to market their products as the most romantic options for February 14, 2022. According to AdAge, some of this year's most notable V-Day campaigns come from Panera Bread, which is currently running a contest with the grand prize of a baguette-cut diamond ring (get it?), and a spicy anti-romance promotion from Wingstop whose tagline is "Boneless on Valentine's Day?"

That one's pretty obvious — but perhaps not as obvious as a campaign for the product Just Egg, a plant-based egg substitute made from water, mung bean protein, and canola oil. The tagline, which was featured in the New York Times and in New York City's Time Square: "Plant-based lovers do it better."

Egg substitute is perhaps the least sexy food on the planet. Nevertheless, Eat Just (the company that sells Just Egg) is taking a risqué turn with its Valentine's Day ad campaign for 2022, which quite straightforwardly implies that a vegan diet leads to better lovemaking.

According to Adweek, the campaign (which was featured in a full-page ad in Sunday's New York Times as well as in a large Times Square billboard) centers around the tagline "Plant-based lovers do it better," which is printed on a hotel-style "Do Not Disturb" door hanger. The ads are certainly blush-inducing, but Eat Just is linking them with actual scientific data provided by cardiologists like Dr. Robert Ostfeld, who said in a statement related to the ad campaign that "Consuming healthy plant-based foods can lower cholesterol and blood pressure, as well as improve blood flow, enhancing heart health and erectile function."

But not everyone is convinced. The Washington Post reported that Danielle Beck of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association asserted, "This marketing campaign has no basis in fact, to the point that it's comical."