A woman wearing what can only be described as rags struggles to push something large, round, and yellow up a mountain. She lets out a primal scream. A female comedian's face appears overhead, shimmering through ominous clouds. This is not the cold open for a wacky alt-comedy web series — it's an ad for a plant-based cheese company.

The company in question is called Plonts, and the large yellow thing is, of course, a humongous wheel of (plant-based) cheese. From here, things get weirder: The comedian whose face looms large in the sky is Kate Berlant, a performer known for her screwball and self-referential work. As Berlant quibbles with the woman on the mountain, her wry and goofy presence instantly sets the ad's tone. With this tongue-in-cheek approach, Plonts seems to be saying that this is not a regular plant-based cheese brand — this is a cool plant-based cheese brand, one that doesn't take itself too seriously and doesn't want you, the consumer, to either. This ethos is aptly summarized by the ad's tagline: Buying Plonts "won't save the planet," it reads. "But it probably won't hurt."

In the plant-based protein space, Plonts is zigging where other brands are zagging. Many plant-based brands — whether it's oat milk or fake-beef burgers that really bleed — introduced themselves to consumers by hyping up the environmental benefits of a plant-based diet. But as they've learned that sustainability isn't a deciding factor for most customers, alternative protein brands have pivoted in recent years, putting more emphasis on things like taste and nutritional benefits.

Rather than relying too heavily on any of these messages, Plonts' new ad makes a show of playfully shrugging off its climate advantages — and calling into question whether consumerism can really get us out of the climate crisis.

If nothing else, this tactic makes the company stand out. "The category of plant-based foods, I would say, has had a pretty uniform ethics or party line," says Jason Moran, creative director on the marketing team at Red Antler, a branding agency.

That line has traditionally been hyper-focused on the environmental benefits of........

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