AN UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH: UK watchdog bans vegan TV ad for showing violence towards animals
Vegan Friendly UK, which certifies restaurants and products as vegan-friendly, said the imagery was no different to displays seen in butchers’ or fishmongers’ windows on the average high street.
RACHEL HALL: An advertising watchdog has banned a TV ad for Vegan Friendly UK after receiving complaints about graphic violence towards animals. The ad, shown in March, was intended to highlight potential hypocrisy among meat-eaters who said they cared about animal welfare.
It showed two women and one man eating around a table juxtaposed with clips of a fish head still gasping for air, a live piglet alongside a pig with its eyes closed and a cow’s face that appeared to have tears coming from its eye. A further clip showed a cow’s skinned head with its eyes and teeth still present lying on its side. As those at the table continued to eat, a caption said: “No animal was harmed, consumed, or purchased to make this advert,” followed by the text: “Make the connection”…
Vegan Friendly UK, which certifies restaurants and products as vegan-friendly, said the imagery was no different to displays seen in butchers’ or fishmongers’ windows on the average high street, and that the clips “would not feel out of place in a cooking programme or a nature documentary”.
The organisation said the ad was intended to highlight “an individual’s potential hypocrisy, and the contradictions between what people said and their actions”, to encourage meat-eaters who were against animal cruelty to reconsider eating meat. It said the ad did not vilify meat-eaters but “promoted love and compassion for all beings and discouraged discrimination against other sentient beings”.
However, the ASA [Advertising Standards Authority] determined that several clips “were likely to cause distress to both younger and adult audiences”, while the way the ad was shot, in a “quick succession of clips” combined with “the juxtaposition between the adults eating and the animal imagery, would heighten the distress felt by viewers”. The ASA noted that visiting a butcher or watching cookery shows was “an active choice which came with different expectations to those of TV ads”. SOURCE…
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