My Beef With the ‘Supreme Master’

Last week, a new advertising campaign geared at providing understanding of Islam kicked off in the south Bay Area and was all over the news. But there’s another ad campaign happening globally (and locally) without any fanfare, which is backed by an odd organization and extols the planet-saving virtues of vegetarianism.

As a guy who doesn’t eat anything that ever had a neck, I can dig the message. But the group behind the ads, something called Supreme Master TV (suprememaster.tv), is downright creepy.

The grainy iPhone photo at left was taken in Mountain View two weeks ago as I drove home from work and was surprised to find the ad on the back of a valley transit shuttle bus. My boss has seen a similar billboard in the Dublin, Ireland airport. Another billboard is said to exist on I-880 in San Jose. Suddenly, the SM is everywhere!

I first became aware of the SM at a fave vegan/vegetarian lunch spot in downtown Palo Alto. The Loving Hut is a great little place, if not a little weird, that makes very good vegan sandwiches. It’s also got a plasma television on the wall in the dining area broadcasting a bizarre loop of shows distributed by the Supreme Master. A few weeks after visiting the restaurant for the first time, I started to see cars around the area sporting big bumper stickers for the TV network and going veg. The websites are linked pretty tightly — perhaps there’s an affiliation.

The ads don’t say anything about the SM. What little of the broadcasts I’ve seen are very odd, with robot-looking, plasticky hosts, grainy video (I’ve seen mostly shows/footage about our dear animal friends, natch) and a lot of text covering the screen in multiple languages. I’m starting to see the SM everywhere lately, and it’s starting to freak me out a little.

This weekend, we ordered take-out from Merit Vegetarian in Sunnyvale — the place is one of my favorite vegan/veggie joints in the area. I walked in and was shocked to see that behind the counter and up near the ceiling, they’ve recently installed a large plasma TV with the Supreme Master broadcast showing. Surprised and probably acting a little weird myself, I asked the woman behind the counter if she knew what it was. She said No and shrugged her shoulders as she handed over my bags of food. Looking back at the restaurant as I left, I saw a huge poster in the window to Be Veg! Go Green! with the Supreme Master logo on it, just like the bus ad.

The website is only of slightly better quality than the shows. The network’s mailing address is in Arcadia, Calif. but I’d be surprised if the shows are shot in the US. According to the website…

SUPREME MASTER TV is a free-to-air satellite channel broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with a variety of engaging programs in English with over 40 languages and subtitles. Being the ideal television channel that brings to your life Nobility and Spirituality. Broadcasting on 14 satellites platforms across the globe.

And, the Supreme Master is revealed as Ching Hai, a woman born somewhere called “Au Lac” who was involved helping her community during her youth, later separated from her husband, and went on an enlightenment journey through the Himalayas where she became fully enlightened.

She’s quoted:

I have a dream. I dream that all the world will become peaceful. I dream that all the killing will stop. I dream that all the children will walk in peace and harmony. I dream that all the nations shake hands with each other, protect each other and help each other. I dream that our beautiful planet will not be destroyed. It takes billion, billion, trillions of years to produce this planet and it’s so beautiful, so wonderful. I dream that it will continue, but in peace, beauty and love, yeah? That is my dream.

Sounds like a nice person with a good dream. But what’s with all the TVs showing up in my favorite veggie restaurants? Is my seitan dinner funding SMTV?

Here’s the thing: Wherever I go, people raise eyebrows at my eating choices. No matter how liberal California may be, there’s hardly a day that goes by that I don’t find myself telling the story of my vegetarianism to someone. I don’t mind explaining if people ask — to me my diet is hardly a big deal. I don’t preach my lifestyle to anyone. If you want to eat a juicy steak, go for it (though really I wish you wouldn’t, for various reasons). You’ll never see me scoff at meat on your plate.

Supreme Master TV isn’t hurting anyone (that I know of) and may be perfectly innocuous, but it smacks of a religious cult’s mouthpiece. And it’s suddenly everywhere, and directly associates with vegetarianism and veggie food. The TVs in my favorite restaurants appear as brainwashy, sub-conscious background noise (not to mention just plain bad television). Frankly, I don’t want to be enlightened when I pick up my food or sit down for lunch. I just want to enjoy a meal. Can vegetarianism ever escape its label as a bizarre and bland food choice for the holier-than-thou set? Not with relationships such as this.

Supreme Master, you’re also preaching to the choir by broadcasting in these restaurants. So as a conversion vehicle, it falls flat. Who’d want to go home and tune in after seeing the show in a restaurant? The message, while noble, is weird in its presentation. Maybe it’s a cultural thing, but I just don’t get it. It makes even less sense when the employees of restaurants don’t even know why the TV is on.

I’d rather these restaurants ditch the TV. Please, just pass the freakin’ tofu.