Burger King makes the plant-based option the new normal. People who want the meat version deliberately have to opt-out.
Eating meat is deeply ingrained in Western culture, often seen as the default choice for protein and nutrition. But this comes at a high environmental cost. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), global livestock production contributes 14.5% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions—equivalent to 7.1 gigatons of CO₂ per year.
Beef, in particular, is a major emitter. Producing just 1 kg of beef releases around 60 kg of CO₂ equivalents.
By comparison, the emissions per kg for other foods are significantly lower:
Despite these environmental impacts, meat remains the default in many popular dishes—especially burgers. When customers order a burger, it’s almost always assumed to be meat-based. This default reinforces unsustainable choices.
Burger King Austria set out to challenge this norm with its „Normal or With Meat“ campaign at its Vienna Margaretengürtel location. Instead of assuming meat, they flipped the default: customers who ordered a “burger” without specifying “with meat” received a plant-based version by default.
The results: a 40% increase in plant-based burger sales revenue. While further research is needed to assess long-term behaviour changes, this experiment suggests that default nudges can have a powerful impact on food choices.
Changing habits is extremely difficult. But establishing a new default might nudge some people to reconsider and try new – ideally more sustainable – options. If the product experience is not worse than the unsustainable option, it has the chance to become a new habit. A new normal.
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