Let’s unspool some thread on @BurgerKing’s new yodeling ad campaign, which touts new methane-reducing cattle feed. @annenbcnews and I saw it Tuesday night and by Wednesday morning were asking questions about the touted #ClimateChange impacts. Watch then https://twitter.com/burgerking/status/1282978244329967617

We sought out @chrfield, who heads @StanfordWoods Institute for the Environment. He broke down greenhouse gas emissions related to cattle this way:
1. Methane emission: 90% burps, 10% farts
2. Deforestation for grazing land
3. Nitrous Oxide from corn farming & manure management

Also there are big differences in biogenic methane and methane from fossil fuels — actually the differences are HUGE. If you’re into Twitter threads, once you finish this one, try this one:
https://twitter.com/UCDavisCLEAR/status/1281021504524660739. But first …

… because of all this, some farmers felt hung out to dry and some scientists have jumped on the fart-focused humor (remember 90% burps, 10% farts?). They also criticize the research used and say @BurgerKing is telling a Whopper.

The research used started in Mexico, at the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico under Octavio Castelan-Ortega. He found that a certain kind of lemongrass reduced methane in cattle “emissions”.

@BurgerKing caught wind of his work, and as Global Chief Marketing Officer @fer_machado123 tells me, it piqued their interest because “we have big ambitions when it comes to sustainability.” Note: BK was 1st US fast food chain to sell a veggie burger nationwide in 2002

The research next moved to @UCDavis where @ErmiasKebreab & grad student @HonanMallory dug in further. They couldn’t replicate the Mexican researchers 33% reduction of methane emissions. Why?

. @ErmiasKebreab tells us they wondered too. “So subsequently we did an analysis of the lemongrass itself … and we see quite a big difference in terms of tannin content compared to the lemongrass from more tropical areas.”

For now, they labeled their work “inconclusive”. This lack of conclusive evidence in a second study didn’t sit well with @UCDavis’s @GHGGuru, who said the “Farts” campaign didn’t pass the “sniff test”. https://clear.ucdavis.edu/blog/burger-kings-breathe-farts-change-not-passing-sniff-test

So, if you care to dig in on all the #climate scientists who live and breathe (pun not intended) this work, you can see why they are upset. We asked @fer_machado123 that question. His view:

“That was really helpful, because our spec for lemongrass was very wide. We never thought that would make much of a difference, to be honest. In what we've learned was, well, it does make a difference.” — @fer_machado123

For their part, @BurgerKing says their work and partnership research on this very issue is just beginning — which they point out is noted in their ad as “ongoing study” and they wanted the ad to be fun because fun is part of their brand.

Everyone @annenbcnews and I spoke to noted what we said to each other in the beginning of our dive into cow farts and burger marketing — most any conversation about #climatechange is one worth having.