# Would you consider this false advertising? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046 "2020-05-03T01:18:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/1 "2020-05-03T01:18:06Z")
I saw an ad for an online delivery service for food and I have a lot of time on my hands so I checked it out. I won’t mention the website’s name but they basically sell meat for home delivery. Here are the names of some of the products they sell: VBites Ground Beef Box VBites Beef Style Pieces Box VBites Duck Style Pieces Box VBites Pork Style Pieces Box I checked and I found out what I suspected: these are non-meat substitutes. I feel that you shouldn’t use words like Beef, Pork, or Duck in the name of a non-meat product. Admittedly, the descriptions identified these products as not being meat but I can see somebody not bothering to read the description and mistakenly thinking something being advertised as “Ground Beef” was ground beef. For some reason, they didn’t do this with their vegetarian “fish” - that they advertised as Vish. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/2 "2020-05-03T01:24:53Z")
it says \ “Style”. That’s probably enough to cover them. Except the Ground Beef. Unless that was a typo on your part. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/3 "2020-05-03T01:27:54Z")
I agree. Looking at their website it appears the V in VBites products indicates they are made of vegetables. But they do say Beef, etc., not Beef Flavored. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/4 "2020-05-03T01:32:13Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Unless that was a typo on your part. No, I copy and pasted [it](https://www.rastellis.com/collections/staples/products/vbites-ground-beef-box). ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/5 "2020-05-03T01:42:06Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > No, I copy and pasted [it](https://www.rastellis.com/collections/staples/products/vbites-ground-beef-box). No prob, just checking. Considering they also have an actual Ground Beef Box, that one could bite them in the grass. ---
**Author:** ![BlueOhio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@BlueOhio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueOhio)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/6 "2020-05-04T12:27:00Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > No prob, just checking. Considering they also have an actual Ground Beef Box, that one could bite them in the grass. Moo! Hiss! ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/7 "2020-05-04T13:00:52Z")
Except for the “Ground Beef Box”, I think the names are about as confusing as “chicken fried steak”. I.e., mildly confusing but not false advertising. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/8 "2020-05-04T13:33:19Z")
The other names are fine. They don’t say that it’s duck or whatever, but they tell you that you can expect to use it as a substitute in a recipe that calls for duck\*. If I saw a label like that, I’d wonder what it was instead of duck; presumably somewhere else on the package it says that it’s a vegetarian meat substitute. A “ground beef box”, though, I’d expect to contain ground beef. Not just something that tastes like ground beef and can be used in the same recipes, but actual ground beef. And even if it says elsewhere on the box that it’s textured soy protein, or whatever, the part of the label that says “ground beef box” is still wrong. \*I wouldn’t actually expect, of course, that it’d work very well as a substitute for duck, but how well something actually works for its intended purpose is the sort of thing one expects a label or ad to exaggerate, and would not be what I would count as “false advertising”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/9 "2020-05-04T13:43:54Z")
I feel “style” is in a gray zone. It can be interpreted that “duck style” means it isn’t actual duck but I don’t feel that’s a clear meaning in the way that “duck substitute” or “imitation duck” would be. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/10 "2020-05-04T14:35:10Z")
It might not be clear that it’s imitation duck, but all the other interpretations of “style” are even weaker statements. “Duck style pieces” definitely does not in any reasonable interpretation imply that it actually is duck. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/11 "2020-05-04T14:52:20Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > For some reason, they didn’t do this with their vegetarian “fish” - that they advertised as Vish. Well, calling the stuff Veef, Vuck, or Vork would just be silly. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/12 "2020-05-04T14:56:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It might not be clear that it’s imitation duck, but all the other interpretations of “style” are even weaker statements. “Duck style pieces” definitely does not in any reasonable interpretation imply that it actually is duck. Really? How about the word ‘Duck’? ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/13 "2020-05-04T15:27:34Z")
I looked at the [VBites web site](https://www.vbites.com/). Their product names are explicit: Meat-Free Beef Pieces, Meat-Free Mince, Meat-Free Gammon Roast, Meat-Free Duck Pieces in Hoisin Sauce, etc. Their fish substitutes are called “Fish-Free,” not “Vish.” It’s a British company, as you can see by the names (mince instead of ground beef, gammon instead of ham). And they make no bones about their products being meatless. It looks to me like the ad mentioned by the OP is from a reseller who has renamed the products for the American market. I think they should have been clearer with their names, false advertising or not. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/14 "2020-05-04T15:40:27Z")
_throws blobs of a vaguely fish-like substance at **Jeff** _ ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/15 "2020-05-04T15:47:00Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > It looks to me like the ad mentioned by the OP is from a reseller who has renamed the products for the American market. I think they should have been clearer with their names, false advertising or not. This [American site](https://www.rastellis.com/collections/staples) sells real meat too, with names that are similar to the vegetarian products. Some of them are more clear like the Daring Plant-Based Chicken Box, though I don’t know what is so daring about it. It’s just dumb marketing for this company, just the chance that a customer will mistakenly order an outrageously over-priced vegetarian box assuming it was real meat should be enough to have them re-name the products. The chance of someone ordering meat being pleasantly surprised with these substitutes is quite low. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/16 "2020-05-04T16:16:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **TriPolar** : > > Really? How about the word ‘Duck’? Yes, just the word “Duck” by itself would in fact have been misleading. It’s a good thing they didn’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/17 "2020-05-04T16:46:41Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > _throws blobs of a vaguely fish-like substance at **Jeff** _ I take a vaguely duck-like action. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/18 "2020-05-04T17:04:47Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Really? How about the word ‘Duck’? It’s not really any worse than duck sauce and oyster crackers. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/19 "2020-05-04T17:48:10Z")
Loma Linda, CA, has a preponderance of Seventh-Day Adventists living there. The main employers in the community are Loma Linda University (private SDA institution) and Loma Linda University Medical Center (again, an SDA institution). When I was Vegetarian I frequently shopped at the Loma Linda Market. It was a fun place to visit. There were canned meat substitutes that frequently had “sort of” meat names, such as Prime Stakes. The absolute worst was a dreadful product called Tuno. That needed to be buried in a deep, deep hole, on somebody else’s property. It’s been my experience whenever a Vegetarian product similar to animal product is sold, the goofy name clues you in that this is a fakey product. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046/20 "2020-05-04T18:27:57Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > This [American site](https://www.rastellis.com/collections/staples) sells real meat too, with names that are similar to the vegetarian products. There’s a menu at the top of the page that shows various icons depicted the products they sell; beef, pork, fish, poultry, and plant-based. Click on the icon and it takes you to the relevant section for that type of product. If you go to the beef, pork, fish, or poultry sections, all of the items display the animal icon next to each product in that section. But the plant-based products do not display the plant icon. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-consider-this-false-advertising/853046.md?page=2)