Red Robin Ad Mocks Vegetarians With 'Teen Phase' Joke. Guess Who's Not Laughing?

yahoo.com ^ | June 18, 2013 | Beth Greenfield

[grundle]

Are vegetarians humorless? It’s the question being asked this week after a Red Robin television ad offended herbivores by touting its 24 types of burgers and then noting, with an implied eye roll and mock whisper, “We even have a Gardenburger—just in case your teenage daughter is going through a phase.”

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The commercial, part of a new campaign ad series, aired for about a week before being rotated out, as was planned from the start. But it prompted outrage among activists and on social media outlets, with a slew of horrified vegetarians taking the eatery to task for its condescending approach.

“Though I applaud any fast food chain that offers a veggie burger, and I hope that more do, the idea that not eating animals is reserved solely for teenage girls going through a phase is obviously meant to insult both vegans and girls,” Jasmin Singer, executive director of Our Hen House, a New York-based multimedia vegan activism organization, told Yahoo! Shine. “Why is Red Robin insulting the very customers it's reaching out to?”

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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) echoed Singer's concerns with an official statement on the matter. "PETA is thrilled that Red Robin has veggie burgers, and we agree with the many comments that the one-liner in the commercial is a bit outdated," it said. "Thirteen percent of the U.S. population now identifies as vegetarian or vegan [according to Public Policy Polling], which is one reason why more and more burger joints and other restaurants continue to add a wider variety of vegetarian and vegan dishes to their menus, including Red Robin, Johnny Rockets, Fuddruckers, Smashburger, and Denny's."

[RinaseaofDs]

I haven’t seen any credible evidence that a meat-free diet adds years to your life.

In fact, there have been cases of child endangerment filed on vegan parents that deny both dairy and meat protein from children. Deaths have occurred.

Anyway, out there somewhere, beyond the MSM are companies that are willing to stand up and say, “There are most certainly groups of people out there we are more than willing to offend.”

[ogen hal]

Vegetaria s never laugh. Grim is their visage. Vegans are moreso.

[MortMan]

I like to order my beef cooked “extra medium”, just to see if the server gets it! ;-P

[21twelve]

Thanks for the link. I’m not sure if she is doing it to be healthier - her only stated reason is “I don’t like the taste of meat”. (Her boyfriend heard this, and asked “Even bacon!? His jaw dropped when she said yes. Pretty funny.)
She has some friends that she looks up to and that might be part of it, or it is because she doesn’t want to “hurt” the animals.

Regardless- thanks for the link and the suggestions on the supplements. She does take a multivitamin so I’ll check the label.

[CodeToad]

“We even have a Gardenburger—just in case your teenage daughter is going through a phase.”

LOL Well, that IS what the vegans are like, little ignorant girls.

[NCLaw441]

Yes. There is one along I 40 just west of Greensboro.

[NCLaw441]

A comedy routine I heard recently related how when vegetarians come to our homes for dinner most of us accommodate them and make vegetarian dishes. But when we are invited to their homes do they ever offer us a steak or pork chops? Funny how that works.

Then he went on to talk about vegetarians who prepare all this food that is supposed to taste just like what they refuse to eat. Tofurkey, etc. If vegetarian food is so good, why do they try to make food that tastes like meat?

[Lancey Howard]

Heh.. My teenage daughter went through that phase.