Vegan Burger King - we talked to the Leicester Square activists
VOICES: The vegan-friendly Burger King in London has been open for a week now and the hype is very real. But what many plant-based fans forget is that Leicester Square has been the venue for countless outreach actions over the years. So what do some of the local animal rights activists think about it?
Leicester Square, the iconic London landmark known for its film premieres, casino, bright lights and street performances - and with a seemingly never-ending sea of tourists, it’s an ideal location for outreach actions where the aim is simply to reach hearts and minds through meaningful conversations.
There have been many local grassroots groups holding such actions over the years, including Surge’s own Down with Dairy events, but a few, in particular, stand out. One of the most well-known is Earthlings Experience, set up in the UK under London Vegan Actions in 2016 (if not earlier) before spreading to other towns and cities under other organisers. Almost every weekend since then, the masked ‘Earthlings’ have held screens showing scenes of animal exploitation from the Earthlings documentary and talking to people who stop to watch.
And then there’s ‘We Stand for Animals’, a group that was formerly affiliated with Anonymous for the Voiceless but has since gone its separate way and renamed under a different banner. The format here is very similar, with screens, placards, masks and ‘outreachers’.
Burger King’s flagship restaurant going vegan for a month is undoubtedly a momentous event, but is it really a sign that we’re winning? Debate rages among the mainstream vegan community and the animal rights activists about whether fast-food chains should ever be supported, or whether we should be ‘voting with our wallets’ to show that there’s a strong market for vegan options and in doing so, show that this is the way of the future.
Joanna Hardeman from Earthling Experience London talking to members of public who stopped to watch videos of animals being exploited. Credit: Joanna Hardeman
Having attended a few Leicester Square outreach actions in my time, I wanted to hear what local leading activists felt about vegan Burger King. “This temporary change reflects the increasing popularity of 100 per cent plant-based food,” said Joanna Hardeman, current organiser of Earthlings Experience in Leicester Square. “I hope that Burger King makes this permanent and that other chains follow.”
This is in essence what many who support plant-based options at fast-food chains hope for, that changes become mainstream and others follow suit. Burger King itself has stated it will be monitoring sales of the 15 vegan menu items - many of which were specially created for this trial - to see if any should be made permanent and rolled out to other locations.
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However, many activists take rather a more guarded view to the mainstream, conscious that capitalism always underpins the motivations of food giants like Burger King and McDonald’s, and that capitalism - green or otherwise - is inherently exploitative.
“Although such news is encouraging, we continue our fight for total animal liberation,” added Hardeman, striking a salient point. Total liberation is difficult to envisage under our current systems, especially if we also include human and environmental justice. Burger King and McDonald’s engage in harmful agricultural practices both animal and arable, and even if animals were removed from the equation completely, the problems of monocropping and food miles, among many others, wouldn’t disappear overnight.
"Companies like Burger King are responsible for so much death and destruction. As an animal rights activist, it is difficult for me to personally choose to purchase any of their products,” said Mark Flood, organiser of Leicester Square outreach events for We Stand for Animals. “Saying this, a fully plant-based location is a step in the right direction and will help normalise plant-based options.”
One important criticism of using plant-based options as a signal of success is that it’s only a positive for animals if previously non-vegan customers are choosing plant-based items over animal versions. If it is only people who are already vegan, all this does is create a new customer base and increase profits. What we ideally need to see from the sales data is a straight swap and actually a marginal increase in profits.
“They have clearly invested significant time and money to launch this and that should be welcomed, despite it being driven by money, not ethics,” added Flood. “Unfortunately, this is the world we live in. I do think it is shame they have launched it as a one-month trial and were not much bolder in their ambition, although I’m certain it will continue at this location as well as be rolled out further.”
Is this the balanced perspective we must adopt, whether mainstream vegan or hardcore animal rights activist? Someone once told me that the world would go vegan when McDonald’s went vegan, but this would be equally applicable to Burger King. At the end of the day, food accessibility is a major factor in consumer choice, as well as taste and convenience. A family whose first priority above all is feeding their children can be forgiven for choosing the fastest and easiest - though not always the most sensible - option.
Should we then accept that fast-food giants are here to stay and that, somewhat grudgingly, we have to work with what we already have? I’ll leave the last word to Flood: “The fact large corporations like this are shifting their business models demonstrate the success of the movement but there is still a lot more to be done, obviously. We need to continue the fight until all Burger Kings are plant-based."
Andrew Gough is Media and Investigations Manager for Surge.
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