To celebrate wagamama becoming the U.K.’s first mainstream (or as Brits call it, “high street”) restaurant to make 50% of its menu plant-based, agency Uncommon Creative Studio has launched a campaign featuring a colossal rubber dinosaur.
The campaign’s centerpiece film introduces our unlikely protagonist, Vegamama–a dinosaur on a mission to right our wrongs and help heal our planet. We open in present day, with the title card “Our Planet is Burning” as the camera flies over the outskirts of a city that’s seemingly polluted with both smog and noise. Suddenly, Vegamama rises dramatically through the tarmac of an abandoned carpark–she’s angry and wants her revenge on the world after all the harm we’ve caused.
We follow Vegamama on her vegan-righteous rampage before the film crescendos as the dinosaur comically shoots off her bionic arm to explode an off-shore oil rig.
But all hope is not lost. Turns out, profound change is possible, but it starts with choices — big and small, to live more sustainably. We cut to a guy on the street, still eating ramen in front of a wagamama restaurant amidst the chaos. He calms Vegamama by telling her that he understands her anger, but that eating more plants is a powerful way to help our planet. Vegamama considers this for a moment, before shrugging an “OK!” in a sort of anti-climactic, agreeable fashion.
Vegamama gets up and dusts herself off, before taking a large chomp out of a nearby billboard, announcing wagamama’s brand new 50% plant-based menu. Vegamama slowly walks into the distance into the water, like she’s entirely lost interest in destroying humanity.
The film, “Vegamama,” was directed by RiffRaff’s Vedran Rupic who meticulously crafted Vegamama’s presence to feel scary but cute all at the same time–in the style of Japanese anime film genre “Kaiju” (which means strange beast). Rupic took influence from 1950s-70s’ cinematography and saturated color palettes to create a nostalgic feel in a modern world. The film is also set to a charmingly offbeat original composition by Gustav Jennefors titled “Vegamama’s Theme.”
Since opening in 1992, wagamama has championed positive eating and living, leading the way with more plant-based choices, like being the first UK casual dining brand to launch a vegan menu in 2017. Among other dishes, wagamama has pioneered vegan dishes such as Watermelon Tuna, Vegatsu Curry, and most recently the “Short Rib” Ramen.
Eating less meat and dairy has been proven to be one of the most impactful actions we can all take to limit the effects of climate change; by eating more plants we can collectively make a big difference to the health of our planet. wagamama believes eating more plants is key to the solution in helping our planet and that’s why this month, they’re launching a whole host of new plant-based dishes–giving plant-based dishes equal share on their menu.
