> pretty minor differences

There's a massive difference between a McDonald's burger and the kind of burger you'd make fresh (or order at a non-fast-food restaurant). It's not a subtle issue of taste. They're just completely different dishes.

>Plenty of people (a billion a day?) enjoy fast food burgers.

Whoa there. "Enjoy" might be a bit generous. I might suggest endure. A lot of people eating fast food burgers are not doing it because they enjoy it, but at their cheap prices it is just something they can afford. Yes, there is a large portion of people that "like" fast food burgers, and that might be a number that reaches "plenty". But I would imagine that enjoyment is similar to when I was a broke ass college age person that could only afford ramen and enjoyed it as being better than nothing.

Foodie gatekeepers are among the most hilarious of all gatekeepers. Everyone has different tastebuds and just because you don't like fast food doesn't mean the whole world doesn't like fast food. I love the fanciest restaurants, but I can still admit the Big Mac is one of the greatest burgers ever created.

If you are young enough, grease tastes good.

Lol this is kinda crazy: I’m a skinny person that still had to overcome a fast food phase/mild addiction, and my favorite order was 4 junior bacon cheeseburgers from Wendy’s. They are so good I’d love one right now.

And I love well prepared burgers. I love steak. And I love goldfish. I disagree strongly with your comment.

Wait, what? Why would you eat goldfish?

“Endure” also fits well for regions that are effectively food deserts, where fast food chains might be one of your limited options.

I suspect that the core audience for plant-based burgers generally tries to avoid fast food anyway.

Why? What does "not torturing animals" have to do with "eating healthy food", aside from "both are goods"?

One is an ethical position, and the other is self care, which aren't particularly correlated, except that both require self-control.

Which was why it was amusing how much marketing dollars were spent getting it into fast food locations (where it inevitably was a “buy once and never again” for the vast majority of those who even bothered to try it).