This Eatery's Vegan Dinosaur Wants a Better World for Us All

Most kaiju creatures are bent on destruction. Godzilla smashes skyscrapers. Rodan mashes planes. Then there’s Vegamama. This newcomer is cute, eco-aware, and less rampage-y than most of her beastly brethren.

Channeling Japanese monster flicks of yore, Vegamama serves as the monumental mascot for casual-dining chain Wagamama. Hyping its status as “the U.K.’s first high-street restaurant to make 50 percent of its menu plant-based,” the eatery unleashed an epically silly minute-long spot from creative studio Uncommon.

Vegamama does engage in some city stomping, it’s true. At one point, she ignites an oil rig. But they were drilling for fossil fuel, and she takes that stuff personally. Besides, what’s the fun of having a bionic claw if you don’t blast a few humans every now and then? (Anyone remember the Godzilla missile-paw action figure from the ’70s?)

RiffRaff director Verdan Rupic employs “saturated color palettes to create a nostalgic feel in a modern world,” Uncommon says in a blog post. Gustav Jennefors’ score recalls Akira Ifukube’s grand themes from vintage Toho Studios fare. And Vegamama first appears by bursting through a tarmac, similar to Big-G’s groundbreaking entrance in 1964’s Godzilla vs. The Thing.

Uncommon designed the saurian suit using 3-D graphics and clay models, building it from foam and latex, with animatronics controlling the expressive face and eyes.

Wagamama hopes the campaign inspires viewers to act, “whether that’s finding a new go-to vegan side or choosing to eat meat-free for half the week,” the agency says.

The work will run on TV, in cinemas and online, supported by OOH elements in coming weeks. So, Vegamama could menace the IRL skyline from billboards. ROOOAAARRRRR!!!

CREDITS

Project Name: Vegamama
Client: wagamama
Creative Studio: Uncommon
Production Company: RiffRaff
Director: Vedran Rupic
Executive Producer: Tom Berendsen
Producer: Christian Kuosmanen
DOP: Nico Poulsson
Post-producer Henning Szpiro Eriksen
Colourist: Julien Alary
Editor: Elias Nilsson
Online editor: Stefan Ekman
VFX lead: Ulf Lunden
VFX artists: Magnus Jonsson, Emil Eriksson, Pär Olsson, Zafer Fanari, Håkan Ossiann, Anders Nyman, Viktor Johansson & Lars-Gunnar Thorell
VFX coordinator: Sofia Frennesson
Matte Painter: Pär Olovsson
Music: Gustav Jennefors
Sound design: Erik Olsson
Sound studio coordinator: Felicia Bjurefors

SWEDEN TEAM
1st AD: Daniel Andersson
PM: John Horn
1st AC: Simon Mortensen
2nd AC: Alexander Toma
Gaffer: Luisa Fanciulliacci
Gaffer assistant: Per Anders Nilsson & Pierre Wernäng
Key grip: Sebastian Saury
DIT: Olof Bäckström
Production designer: Christian Olander
SFX: Niklas Hermansson, Simon Krümmel, Pernilla Fisher, Oskar Wallroth, Kicki Öman & Fia Reisek
VFX supervisor: Ulf Lunden
Post producer: Henning Lind Eriksen
Pyro technician: David Peter

KIEV TEAM
Executive Producer: Sasha Bevko
Producer: Val Petyshkin
Production Manager: Vova Altsybeev
Unit Manager: Iegor Pogrebniak
Production Coordinator: Andrew Birch
1st AD: Masha Verboliuk
Production Designer: Max Halushka
Stylist: Dasha Filshina
MUA: Kate Maksimova
Casting On Set: Evgeniy Krivosheev & Yulia Tolkacheva
Food Stylist: Alexandra Gordeeva
1st AC: Sergey Kolesnik
Script Super: Maryoha
Gaffer: Vova Akulov
Key Grip: Artem Pilipchuk
Sound: Sergey Verdes
SFX: Olga Markova
Playback: Vitaliy Bear
Location Manager: Vitaliy Batyshchev