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Hyundai's Super Bowl commercial features a couple riding an elevator that is dropping people off to different unpleasant experiences, such as a root canal or shopping for a car. One undesirable experience is a "vegan dinner party," complete with "beetloaf."
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) took issue with the ad when it was released on Twitter prior to the Super Bowl.
"Instead of buying a car from people with outdated ideas, we suggest a vegan Smartcar by Mercedes," PETA tweeted. "Great mileage & acceleration, turns on a dime."
Comment: There's nothing outdated about a joke that has "vegan food tastes bad" as the implied punchline. It's funny because it's true.
Vegans expressed similar negative sentiments when the ad aired on Sunday evening.
"Hyundai's Superbowl ad should not have made fun of vegan food - it is the one diet that can help our health, help the planet & help the environment," one person wrote on Facebook.
"I need a new car. I was considering a Hyundai. I am a vegan," reads another. "It's hard enough to live this way with out being denigrated by a car company. Shame on you."
"We totally respect veganism and are happy that it is mainstream," a representative for Hyundai said in an email to Business Insider.
On Twitter, the company is attempting to make amends with vegans by sharing an actual recipe for beetloaf.
"We actually love vegan food and are glad it's going more mainstream," Hyundai tweeted.
"We also hope that vegans have a sense of humor just like dentists, parents, judges and flight attendants, the others stops represented on 'the elevator,'" the Hyundai representative added.
Comment: Talk about not having a sense of humor about oneself. Maybe if vegans stopped taking themselves so seriously they wouldn't continually be the butt of so many jokes. And considering vegans make up about 1% of the American population, it's unlikely Hyundai is going to feel much in the way of repercussions in their pocketbooks.
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