Plant-based meat business, This, has announced the launch of the brand’s first TV ad campaign, featuring food critic Grace Dent, following an investment from ITV as part of its Media for Equity programme.

The campaign, which runs until the end of November, is the brands biggest ad campaign to date, with a £600,000 spend across TV, OOH, in-store, digital, influencer and social activations. The TV ad, which features restaurant critic and columnist Grace Dent, tasting what she thinks is a pork sausage, will air across ITV and ITVX from 16 October. Supporting the TV ad, an OOH campaign across the London Underground and bus sides featuring the brand’s award-winning This Isn’t Pork Sausages went live this week.

The campaigns tagline, ‘This is kind of a pig deal’, serves as a witty nod to both the tastiness of the brand’s meat-free sausages and their nutritional profile compared to their animal-based counterparts. The campaign aims to make people consider what sausages they’ll buy on their next weekly shop, increase awareness about healthier, plant-based alternatives and spark conversations about making more conscious food choices. 

“We’re very excited to be essentially slapping Londoners in the face with a sausage over the next month,” said This Co-founder and CEO, Andy Shovel. “It is also a huge milestone for This to kick off our first ever TV campaign, which shows that even food royalty Grace Dent couldnt tell the difference.”

In the last three months alone This has added £1.6m to the chilled meat-free category, holding its place as the fastest growing brand in the category (source:IRI Temple Total Grocery). Now the largest independently-owned brand in the sector, the London based meat alternative business is forecast to hit £20m of revenue this year. Over the last three months, the London based business has launched internationally in the Netherlands, expanded its food-to-go range in Boots and WHSmith, and announced new products including This Isnt Roast Chicken & Stuffing, and This Isn’t Chicken & Bacon Pie.