Look out for our ad across the Channel 4 network on channels including Channel 4, E4, Dave, Film4, and more.

Speaking about the advert, founder and director, Juliet Gellatley, said: 

“The TV Ad was a huge success and now more than ever, it is important to ensure the advert reach is amplified to be seen by millions more.  

Most people in the UK despise cruelty to animals, yet simply don’t make the connection between animal cruelty and what is on their plate. If we can encourage people to think about what they consume, at a time when vegan alternatives are widely available, we can play a part – on a national scale – in helping to change mindsets and save animals.”

What is the advert?

Filming Takeaway the Meat

Viva!’s TV advert follows the journey of an everyday meat-eating couple as they decide which takeaway meal to order. Snuggled up on their sofa, with their beloved dog, they choose pulled pork from the food delivery app ‘Just Meat’.

Hungry in anticipation of their meaty meal, the couple race to the door when the delivery driver rings the bell. Upon opening the door, the couple are shocked to find an adorable little piglet on their doorstep and the delivery driver brandishing a butcher’s knife announcing: “Just Meat, delivered fresh to your door.” Gob-smacked and confused, the couple don’t know what to do. Surely, they won’t kill the cute little piggy?

The advert encourages the public to make the connection between the animals they choose to keep as companions and the ones that are destined for their dinner table. Viewers are invited to consider the morality of eating meat, helping them to make the connection between animals and food. The solution? Try vegan of course!

Now, who is ready for round three? Help us get the second most complained about advert of 2022 in front of another 10 million people in 2024!

The reception to the advert the last two times was overwhelmingly supportive and we were inundated with messages. ‘ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!!!! Well done and during a meat cookery show too! Pure genius’ was just one of hundreds of comments. Many comments were from meat-eaters who, when confronted with the realities of what’s on their plate, took the time to think more about what they were consuming.

We garnered huge media coverage, including the advert being shared by the world’s biggest online newspaper, The Daily Mail and The Grocer. This reached far beyond UK media outlets and was covered on the most visited German online media platform Die Bild, Australian media, and more.

We were thrilled to face some backlash too and felt honoured to rank as the second most complained-about advert of 2022. While many might assume the complaints were due to adult themes like sex, violence, or discrimination, they’d be wrong. Aside from an advert about women’s periods, the runner-up was Viva!’s Takeaway the Meat, which simply highlighted the fact that meat eaters consume animals.

The advert amassed a staggering 402 complaints, though the ASA ultimately ruled in our favour. This shows we challenged people’s deeply held beliefs and planted an important seed for change. After all, facing resistance is nothing new when it comes to spreading the vegan message!

2021-2022

The idea for Takeaway the Meat was born in the winter of 2021. We wanted to create a powerful vegan TV ad that inspired the public to think about where their food comes from, and how they can save animals’ lives by going vegan. We ran a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds to produce and distribute the advert and boy, did you, our supporters have an appetite for it! We absolutely smashed our goal and were able to create something that would go on to win awards (and get its fair share of complaints).

And so, in February 2022, our ad aired for the first time on Channel 4 and its associated networks. We had some excellent spots on prime time TV on shows including First Dates, Come Dine With Me, A Place in the Sun, The Great Cookbook Challenge with Jamie [Oliver], and many more. We ultimately ended up reaching 16 million people.

2023

After the resounding success of our first Takeaway the Meat ad campaign, we decided it was time to bring it back in 2023. But this time we wanted it to be even bigger. We ran another crowdfunding campaign to raise funds to air our ad again on Channel 4 and its associated networks. Once again, you helped us achieve our target and allowed us to show our vegan ad to more than 20 million people this time around.

Some of the top TV spots included Four in a Bed, Taskmaster, Gogglebox, A Place in the Sun, George Clarke’s Old House New Home, and more.

Below are the confirmed spots for December.

Some of the top TV spots include:

• The Inbetweeners – E4
• Gogglebox – E4 + C4 Network
• Clear and Present Danger – C4 Network
• Scent of a Woman – C4 Network
• First Dates – E4
• The Simpsons – C4 Network
• Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) – E4
• …and more

^{*Please be aware that, due to the dynamic nature of TV scheduling, these spots and times are subject to change at short notice. We’ll do our best to keep the below schedule up-to-date.}