Kung-Fu Panda Advertises On Tofu.

Product integration has become so common that it almost goes unnoticed amongst the millions of other ads we’re hit with every day. When a summer blockbuster comes out we almost expect the McDonald’s toys, Slurpee cups, and Pepsi cans to be plastered with the main character’s faces. This summer however, Dreamworks is stepping outside the box to conduct product integration like you’ve never seen it before, on tofu.

Jack Black’s animated comedy Kung-Fu Panda is coming out with a big budget sequel and Dreamworks studios is promoting the movie on tofu packages. House Foods, one of the world’s leading tofu makers, is running ads for Kung-Fu Panda on 8 million of their packages. The advertising doesn’t just help the movie studio though, it also helps House Foods tofu appeal to a mainstream audience of mom and kids.

House Foods’s press release said the company hopes the partnership will help introduce kids and families to the “myriad of health benefits of tofu.” They’ve even launched a “Tofupedia” that explains, using the animated characters from the movie, all the reasons tofu is part of healthy diet. The Tofupedia also features the cast of Kung-Fu Panda presenting their favorite tofu recipes including meatball subs and blueberry pancakes.

I never thought we’d see the day when a major motion picture used tofu to market a kids movie. I think the partnership works and it sure is a million times better than Burger King toys or 7-Eleven cups. I love seeing cartoon characters kids want to emulate eating tofu to get energy for kick-ass karate. Another sign that tofu and veganism are going mainstream.

Come to think of it, Bugs Bunny was vegan way before it was mainstream.