Meat: Does it Really Matter What Cut it Is?

Post written by VegBlogger. Follow me on Twitter.

As I was flipping through coupons this morning, I came across an ad for hot dogs that
made me pause. This ad (pictured), for Hebrew National, was touting the fact that they use premium cuts of Kosher beef.

You can see in the picture that they wrote "no ifs, ands or butts" and have an image that typically depicts the cuts of "beef." If I am reading this correctly, they are stating that they only use cuts of flesh from the left side of the bar, which would include the head to the mid-body. They avoid the rear-end, hence the play on not using butts, along with the latter mid-section.

Two things came to mind as I looked at this ad:

1. Does it really matter where the flesh came from to make a hot dog, or any other type of processed meat? How would one even know the difference as they are eating it? After all, it's so processed that there is no way to indentify any type of body part that it originated from. After all, cows don't have "hot dogs" on or in their body.

2. What are they implying, that anything on the right side of the line on their graphic is gross and that is what people would want to avoid? I would beg to differ. If you look at a typical "beef chart" you will notice just the opposite. The latter half of the cow's body is where cuts like steak, filet mignon, and roast are from. Did I mention steak comes from that area of the body? And isn't that the one cut of flesh that people particularly brag most about consuming?

It seems as though the ad plays on the consumers ignorance about where their cuts of flesh actually come from, convincing them that their product is made from the most desired areas.

Just one more example of clever marketing on the part of the meat industry. Keep your eyes open and you are sure to notice many more!

Note: Writing about meat is going to prompt google ads to display ads about meat. I've tried to filter out many of the URL's. But some are likely to still come up. My apologies. At least their advertising is falling on deaf ears. :)

Comments

[Bea Elliott]

Interesting thing too about "cuts" of meat is how consumers go after flesh that is "tender"... So strange... Such a cold, violent act - yet they seek the end product to be soft and "gentle".

[Jacqueline]

Excellent point, Bea! Also, look how they sometimes "tenderize" the meat (by beating it with a weapon). :)

[emily lorenzo]

just read this and 2 of your other blogs and looked you up on facebook and became a fan. :)

[Jacqueline]

Hi Emily,
So glad to hear that! Thank you!
Jacqueline