The fat of bacon is essential for flavor but at the same time makes it a difficult type of meat to recreate. La Vie therefore first focused on developing a recipe for vegetable fat that the brand eventually obtained a patent for. After more than three years and 5,000 tests, La Vie succeeded in creating a plant-based alternative to bacon that replicates the taste, appearance, and texture of pork. The fact that La Vie managed to replicate the “authentic” bacon with its bacon so accurately was therefore a reason for the French pork lobby to sue the brand. La Vie itself, by the way, takes this as a great compliment.
After it was announced in September that meat advertising would be banned in Haarlem, La Vie (in partnership with Fitzroy), immediately launched a campaign to make the city’s residents the first to learn about the brand. With the texts “Sorry Haarlem, you can’t ban this bacon ad,” “Finally, no more meats on billboards” and “Nobody wants to see a bacon ad nowadays,” La Vie announced itself in the city.
HAGENS was responsible for the PR campaign surrounding this launch. Among others, Culy, Men’s Health, Bedrock and Kookfans published about the bacon. Adformatie, MarketingTribune and Noord-Hollands Dagblad also wrote about the original campaign in Haarlem
