New ads address common myths about beef

DENVER — Managed by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.” is addressing common questions and hot topics in the beef industry head-on with the launch of new digital and social media ads. The ads focus on the topics of sustainability, health and meat substitutes.

Staying true to the brand’s notable swagger, the ads leverage the popular “Nicely done, beef” creative wrapper to directly address misinformation while highlighting beef’s strongest attributes — taste, quality, health and sustainable production.

“This year the ‘Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.’ Checkoff-funded programs are focused on continuing to drive demand for beef by re-enforcing that real beef’s great taste and nutrition that cannot be replicated and directly addressing myths that may affect consumer decisions to choose beef,” said Laurie Munns, a cattle rancher from Hansel Valley, Utah, and federation division chairman at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. “To achieve this, we are leaning on checkoff funded technical research and focusing on the real facts about real beef.”

The new series of ads are currently running on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.” will continue to roll out additional creative elements such as video, programmatic and native advertising in the weeks ahead.

The ads directly target older millennial consumers, especially parents, directing them back to BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com, where they can learn about beef’s powerful nutrition and sustainability stories and find beefy mealtime inspiration.

“As a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, we are using the dollars of beef farmers and ranchers to ensure consumers, media, chefs, dietitians and food service and retail partners have the facts when it comes to beef,” said Alisa Harrison, senior vice president of global marketing and research.

“It’s important to keep in mind that consumers crave real beef and meat alternatives represent less than 1% market share, while real beef represents more than 99% market share or sales at retail and foodservice. While these products aren’t replacing beef, we still want to ensure people are choosing their proteins based on facts and not fear-based misinformation.”

These ads are just latest in the “Nicely done, beef.” series, which were first released in early 2018. One of the original, “Nicely done, beef.” ads, which says “Nicely done, beef. You prove that meat substitutes are just that. Substitutes.” has more than 53 million impressions since it was launched and has resulted in more than 286,000 clicks back to the BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com website.

In 2019 alone, “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.” marketing efforts, including the “Nicely done” ads, have reached consumers more than 1 billion times.

“As consumers have an increasing interest in where their food comes, the nutrients it provides and how to prepare it in new and innovative ways, the ‘Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.’ brand will continue to serve as an informative, convenient and mouthwatering resource,” said Season Solorio, senior executive director of brand marketing and communications. “Thanks to these ongoing efforts, consumers can continue to feel good about choosing beef for the center of their plates.”