When I was reading and writing about Mighty-O yesterday, something struck me. I have seen this phenomenon before in my travels, online and off, but I really started thinking about it as I was going through the Mighty-O site. The doughnuts at Mighty-O are vegan. They are vegan but you would be hard-pressed to find the word ‘vegan’ on their site. This is the closest to a declaration of vegan that I could find – an excerpt from Mighty-O’s About page:

Our donuts are made locally out of our bakery in Seattle using certified organic ingredients. They contain no chemical preservatives, no hydrogenated oils (no trans fats), no colorings or artificial flavors, and no animal derived ingredients, which make them cholesterol free. We don’t compromise our ingredient standards, and strive to produce quality donuts that taste good every time.

Did you miss it? and no animal derived ingredients – followed by the qualifier, which make them cholesterol free – a justification? Or very clever wording? I am in no way criticizing Mighty-O’s – on the contrary, I applaud them for filling a hole in the doughnut market. I am salivating over the mere idea of biting into a Cocoloco. In short, I am a fan. I do find their choice of marketing very interesting – and it got me thinking – is vegan a bad word? Does it conjure up images of sandal-wearing, incense-burning, unshaved, needs a bath, militant types (just off the top of my head)?

If there are any negative connotations attached to the term ‘vegan’, then Mighty-O has been very clever in marketing their product in a way that won’t turn people off. I often see vegan products that don’t exclaim their vegan-ness. They do, but without using that term – instead saying things like dairy free, egg-free, no animal derived ingredients. Could it be that in designing the marketing for these products, the makers don’t want to scare the paying public away? On the flip side, there are plenty of vegan products that wear that badge proudly and loudly. Again, not a criticism – just a curiosity. The more people there are out there enjoying vegan doughnuts and other things vegan the better, right? Or does it do a little more good when people are made aware that they are making a vegan choice, rather than a choice based on health or food allergy considerations? Is there a difference? Food for thought.