Le Recyclage De Luxe show and TV Dinner

Hosted by Alain du Monde, father of the "recyclage" movement, Stella Artois aimed to bring an entertaining way of increasing our environmental awareness. In their words: "Humorous and spectacular, Le Recyclage de Luxe show is a fresh, entertaining way of talking about those small steps that we can all take to help protect Mother Nature." I watched only about 1 minute of it before I cracked open the TV dinner box I'd been couriered to find the three carefully packed courses of "haute cuisine".

With the Coq Au Vin in the oven, I will take a moment to tell you about Stella Artois' efforts on sustainability. Stella bottles are made of 75% recycled glass, cans are made from 50% recycled aluminum; the corrugated packaging made out of 100% recycled paper and the cardboard packaging is certified compostable. That's not bad. Right? Armed with a piece of bread more like rock, I approached the entree with fear. Inside the brown cardboard bowl was a pink lump (pork rilette) on top of a bed of cornichons, lifeless wilted baby leaf salad with a lemon and pot mini of sauce vierge. With a poke around and a taste I was able to confirm that it was a rilette but not one I'd dare to eat without bread. The Coq Au Vin was actually edible consisting a leg portion of chicken. I could clearly envisage eating it on a plane... in economy, on a half decent airline. Profiteroles had the distinct taste of supermarket but I still ate them.

The Stella Artois campaign was supported by comprehensive media spend, from Spotify takeovers to GQ partnerships. This three course dinner was all part of a bloggers’ outreach program where they were delivered to 200 bloggers on the day of launch, 22nd November. So the food was prepared the day before, chilled and sent out to me on launch day, by Lewis Day taxis, with the instruction to be enjoyed whilst watching the premiere of the show. A truly memorable and creative marketing indeed! I enjoyed the bottle of beer.