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In the late 1960s and early 1970s, productivism was increasingly being called into question by the political ecology movement that also questioned economic dependence on oil and sought to promote an alternative growth model. In this context, BP decided to produce proteins from hydrocarbons in association with French scientists. This project combined both technical and economic goals for the firm that included the extraction of paraffin wax and increased diversification of the business in response to growing uncertainty in the oil market. It was presented by the company, however, as a way of solving the problem of “world hunger”. This aligned with humanitarian issues raised by United Nations agencies that were the subject of significant media coverage since the Biafra famine. One of BP’s first protein plants began operating in Lavéra, near Marseille, in 1972. Production stopped suddenly four years later, however, for two different reasons. One was the rise in oil prices following the crisis of 1973. The other was the widespread criticism of the venture by environmentalists who saw the “petroleum steak” as a symbol of ‘junk food’ and symbolic of the excessive growth that characterized the three post-World War II decades in France. This article examines the role of activist thinking in the birth and demise of the sector over a period of two decades where a major business project sought to combine the quest for profits and scientific expertise with the construction of a brand image based on corporate social responsibility.