The mammoth meatball has created a mind-shift for cultured meat, whilst operating in the shadow of a gigantic and powerful meat industry. We blended creative and scientific mindsets to create a world’s first that highlights the potential of cultured meat.

We turned the mammoth, a symbol of loss into a beacon of hope for people around the globe to start thinking differently about food consumption. This campaign has done more for alternative protein than years of efforts of the food tech industry. Instilling the belief in creatives that no idea is too crazy to imagine a better world for all.

1 million species are at threat of extinction with food production as a substantial driver. 14.5% of all human-caused global greenhouse gas emissions attribute to meat production. Growing meat consumption also results in inhumane conditions for animals. While ecological and ethical boundaries are met, human evolution rages on. By 2050, we'll need two planets to feed our growing population. At least, without radical and urgent changes.

But alternatives are on the rise. Cultured meat reduces the impact on the environment, is cruelty-free and can be designed to be preferable in taste and nutritional value.

Yet Singapore still stands alone in having legally approved cultured meat for commercial sale. Global legalization and acceptance are being held back by a powerful meat lobby and the public perception of inability to change. We united ‘Vow’, international experts and scientists to change the debate and increase urgency of the legislative framework to act.

The woolly mammoth is a symbol of loss and what drastic impact climate change can have. Could this giant become a beacon of hope for the future of food? Using innovative technology, the mammoth meatball was created, starting from the DNA of the extinct woolly mammoth. Illustrating the potential to eat ourselves out of extinction.

We sparked hope by turning what is no longer here, into an icon of today: a meatball. A popular dish for people all over the world who make their own version of it. An accessible dish, simple to make and affordable; exactly what we hope for cultured meat in the future.

The creative idea taps into the perceived limits of cultured meat. Not to make people eat mammoth meat, but to tell an impactful story about possibilities. Uniting complex innovations with an easy concept makes people question our today and consider alternatives for the future.

Consumers were little aware of Cultured Meat and its benefits compared to real meat and plant-based alternatives. Instead of telling them how cultured meat can change our future. We needed to show we can. Even when legislation, lobby groups or public perception are not on our side.

Our message: the future of food needs to be questioned and changed.

With cultured meat as a more sustainable, ethical and feasible alternative.

Instead of targeting the few with power to make a change – we targeted the critical mass to start a cultural change. We carefully orchestrated a launch strategy for the Mammoth meatball to grab the attention. A campaign website and the residency of the meatball at Museum Boerhaave fuelled the discussion with facts. The meatball functioned as a statement that encouraged people to get involved in the conversation and highlight the urgency to change the legislative framework.

The campaign used cutting-edge technology to create something unexpected and groundbreaking. The creation of an iconic Mammoth Meatball meat started by identifying the Mammoth gene. From here on the right DNA sequence needed to cultivate meat was searched and gaps were completed by using the genome of the African elephant. Finally, the gene was inserted into a cell to be grown and multiplied, just like a mammoth would have done naturally.

The campaign to turn the meatball into a story was created to magnify the reveal on March 28, 2023. During the food futurism event, experts and thought leaders shed a light on the innovation from their unique angle. We connected with major press titles to get the story started. From here on the public debate was supported with a campaign website, a campaign movie and by displaying the actual meatball in museum Boerhaave.

With the creation of a groundbreaking masterpiece, we got 13 billion impressions by only using PR. The campaign was covered by global broadcasts and 12.500 global articles, contributing to a total of $120 million in earned advertising value. Making Vow go from a tiny start-up, to front page news for the Wall Street Journal. Being skyrocketed, the Mammoth Meatball found its way to social media feeds of people globally through meme’s, tweets, vlogs & TikTok’s.

We got the world to know cultured meat and changed its negative associations into anticipation to try. After seeing the campaign, 80% recognised the negative impact of the current meat industry on the environment and biodiversity loss and nearly 7/10 people perceived cultured meat as being nutritious, safe, healthy and tasty. Making 3/4th of respondents indicating cultured meat as an exciting, sustainable & realistic alternative.

The result: 95,7% increase in willingness to try cultured meat.

The call for eating less meat has never been louder. Yet the average global meat production has quadrupled since 1961 and is now at an all-time high.

A study in the Dutch market showed the perception of cultured meat is more negative when it comes to health, safety, naturalness and tastiness compared to meat, fish and plant based aternatives. This shows a big gap needs to be filled to increase the willingness for people to convert to cultured meat as part of their diet.

The unability to fulfill the expectations raised by the plant-based alternatives hype (Beyond Meat, Impossible) made skepticism about meat alternatives grow with investors, press and public opinion. Leading press titles refer to cultured meat as the ‘next hope’, but it needs to build its image on the exchange failure and backlash of the unhealthy character of those who went before.