The Multi-Award-Winning VEGAN Lifestyle Magazine
FEBRuary 2019| issue 47 | £3.99
Pro-vegan advertising
Why is it so controversial to share the truth?
Are avocados really vegan? Fat Gay Vegan settles the debate
No-bake cheesecake
The
loisvseue Your perfect dates, gifts and dinners
ALSO INSIDE
WEARABLE ART Lisa Skelly on activism that travels
REG THE RAM The brave sheep who escaped slaughter INTERVIEW We meet rugby star Anthony Mullally
Now includes
Landfills: Are we burying our future?
Political
A
We look into the controversial world of pro-vegan advertising
dvertising is everywhere — on the sides of buses, in underground carriages and tunnels, on roadside billboards and on buildings, television, radio, and all over the internet. Adverts influence every aspect of our day-to-day lives, whether we know it or not, from our spending habits and the products we lust over, to the ways we think, eat, and act. Currently, television adverts are the most successful source of advertising in the world, reaching 94 per cent of first-world nations. The second best format is outdoor advertising, which reaches 98 per cent of Britons. Social media has a massive effect on purchasing inspiration, with 37 per cent of online shoppers saying that they use it to help them decide what to buy. The majority of these campaigns aim to make us buy a product or an experience, and infrequently do they seek to instill meaningful values or expose hidden
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truths. Sadly, the bombardment of these kinds of advertisements has led to a world hyped on consumerism, fast fashion, unhealthy diets, and unethical thinking. Although we are starting to get more of them, compared to meat and dairy-focused adverts, rarely will you see an advert solely aimed at promoting veganism, vegan products, or animal rights and welfare. And when pro-vegan adverts do crop up, they are often banned, or they become the centre of great controversy. Animal rights group, Viva!, work hard at addressing the balance of this issue. In 2017, a Viva! billboard was banned after it was branded ‘misleading’. The advert showed an image of a cow’s udder, and read: ‘Some dairy industry facts we bet you don’t know. Most cows are pregnant when milking. That’s why milk contains 35 hormones, including
oestrogen. Some of these are linked to cancer. Milk is for babies, so let Viva! wean you off the teat!’ After it received two complaints, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that Viva!’s advert would be incorrectly taken by consumers to mean that drinking cow’s milk increased the risk of developing cancer. ASA told Viva! not to display the advert again, and not to make claims, “Which stated that drinking cow’s milk could increase a person’s risk of developing cancer”. But Viva! offered pages of scientific evidence to back up their words. The group says: “We believe it was correct to use the wording ‘linked to’, as dairy consumption and the hormones present in milk have been implicated in increasing the risk of several cancers. Just like with any food, it can’t be completely isolated from other dietary and lifestyle factors, so there will always be a level of uncertainty, which is why ‘linked
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to’ is used as opposed to ‘causes’. The ‘linked to’ wording is commonly used in similar situations when talking about cancer and in text aimed at the general public.” In September 2018, another Viva! advert was banned. Viva!’s cinema advert was first shown in December 2017, and presented a pig exploring a field as a voiceover said: “All creatures can experience pleasure. She is a pig called Hope, rescued by Viva!. This is her dance of joy for being outdoors for the first time.” The advert also showed footage of pigs in crowded farm stalls, as the voiceover remarked: “It’s something most pigs will never know, as 90 per cent are factory farmed. Set them all free. Try vegan.” Seven members of the public, along with the National Pig Association, complained to the ASA, stating that the video showed farming methods that were no longer legal in the UK, and they also attested against Viva!’s figure of factory farmed pigs. Once more, Viva! provided substantial evidence in response to the complaints made. Most markedly, the ASA highlighted an issue that seems to be recurrent in response to pro-vegan advertising campaigns. They say: “The advert contained content that was likely to cause distress without
justifiable reason.” To many animallovers, such a response is absurd, considering the distress that animals go through for human benefit — where is their justice?
"Pro-vegan adverts may rile people up, but this is a result of guilt from having firmly-held beliefs challenged.” Similarly, a campaign targeted at UK university students met resistance in 2018. The Animal Justice Project (animaljusticproject.com) wanted their Lifeline campaign posters to be displayed across university campuses. However, most universities refused to display the paid advertising, and the group was surprised by the refusals they received. Reasons cited were that the posters could ‘divide opinion’, and that there would be ‘concerns sharing a specific moral message that may be alienating for some students.’ Notably, one university stated concerns that the non-graphic ads, ‘may cause concern or distress’ to pupils, and another simply stated that they would ‘not be comfortable running this
advertising’. Even with mass refusal from all but two universities — Kings College London and Huddersfield University — the animal rights organisation still displayed its message to thousands of people — on mobile ‘digi-vans’ close to campuses. Ayrton Cooper, Animal Justice Project’s Lifeline campaigner, said: “Despite disappointing responses from universities, we’ve gone above and beyond to get our message on veganism and animal rights out there. The ads were designed to encourage onlookers to question themselves about where they draw the line with regards to animals, and the responses by both students and the public have been overwhelmingly in favour of animal rights, with many saying they had already been considering switching to a vegan diet, because of concerns about animal welfare.” Go Vegan World (goveganworld. com) is another animal rights and advocacy organisation, and they’ve been running large-scale advertising campaigns for more than three years. Founder, Sandra Higgins, says: “The success of our campaign is attributable to the fact that it is run by a psychologist with expertise in human behavioural change. It does not target those who are
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already vegan; it aims to help those who are not vegan to connect with the sentience and individuality of other animals. Through our visual representation of the residents of Eden sanctuary, and our ad text, we are able to convey that other animals share our fundamental right not to be owned, used or killed.” However, Go Vegan World have also received resistance: “Some companies refused to do business with 68 Vegan Life Magazine
us,” Sandra continues. “Others refused our ads due to a conflict of interest through their business relations with animal food industries. But, we have overcome every challenge and our campaign has helped change public perception of animal rights and veganism from an outrageous insult to human supremacy, to something that is logical, reasonable and attainable. For example, just as the campaign was due to launch in October 2015,
we were informed that the ASA of Ireland advised that our campaign was likely to give rise to complaint, and may be considered offensive because: ‘the reference to ‘someone’ equates the animals to a person. A mere three years later, that same ad has been passed for copy approval and is live on Irish streets. Our challenge now is to overcome the damage that has been created by the public misrepresentation of animal rights, animal welfare, and of veganism as a trendy lifestyle choice that is only worthy insofar as it benefits humans.” Sandra adds: “It is essential to respect our audience by illustrating information that is their right to know and their responsibility to act on. As a result, we have been able to defend every complaint we received by substantiating the claims made in the ads. In June 2017, a landmark decision by the UK ASA supported our reference to dairy as inhumane (Humane Milk is a Myth, Don’t Buy It). We do not need more vegan adverts. We need more of this style of astute campaigning that has a record of remarkable success behind it.” Animal Justice Project and Go Vegan World’s campaigns show that to make change, public thinking and behavior need to be targeted, and they prove that this is achievable through thought-provoking advertising. Considering that pro-vegan adverts main focus is to support innocent animals, it begs the question as to why there are so few vegan adverts compared to meat, egg, and dairy. Moreover, why do they receive so many complaints? Although plant-based lifestyles are on the rise, little money goes towards funding pro-vegan adverts. Jamie Carey, strategist at atom42 digital marketing agency (atom42.co.uk), says: “I think the reason we’ve seen so few vegan adverts before, is due to their lack of commercial agenda. When ad spend leads to profit, it’s an easy thing to do. When motivated by compassion or social change, the
Political money is harder to come by, and often requires crowdfunding. The meat, egg, and dairy industries have a lot of money to spend on advertising to try to protect their position and maintain the status quo.” Jamie, a passionate vegan, continues: “More vegan ads can only be a good thing. They may rile people up, but this is a result of guilt from having firmly-held beliefs challenged. I only turned vegan when I learnt about practices in the dairy and egg industries that I didn’t know about previously, which allowed me to make more informed decisions about my choices. I think if more people knew about the things we do to animals, and made the connection between what’s on their plate and where it came from, more people would turn vegan. Advertising helps with that. As an example, through just a few vegans in my office sharing information and talking about veganism, around a quarter of us at atom42 are now vegan.” During November 2018, YouTube released its first UK pro-vegan advert, and in one month, the TRASH campaign video amassed over 200,000 views. Viva! says: “Paid YouTube mobile advertising is 84 per cent more likely to receive attention than TV advertising, and YouTube vlogging has been credited for bringing veganism
into the mainstream. YouTube provides the perfect opportunity to broadcast a vegan message to an audience who are really listening.”
"Our advert campaign does not target those who are already vegan; it aims to help those who are not vegan to connect with the sentience and individuality of other animals” Video director, Robbie Lockie of Plant Based News, also comments: “To treat sentient animals like inconvenient by-product is obscene. We need to put this message in front of as many people as possible, and Viva! has found a powerful way to do it.” Following on from this, YouTube might well hold the answer to the future success of pro-vegan advertising. As the vegan industry expands and increases in capital, hopefully, funding for important campaigns will start to grow, too. This money needs to be used to create more impactful vegan adverts that actually target the public’s behaviour and alter their perception of animal rights and veganism. Only by changing the way
people think, will we be able to make any real impact on the planet. Advertising holds great power over society, we need to utilise the tools available to us, like YouTube and roadside billboards, to take a hold of them. We must stop using advertising to push consumerist ideals and instead, make the most of it for the benefit of our planet, and the sentient creatures that we share it with. With so many high-profile dairy and meat producers holding influence, and members of the public who take offence, the advertising world might seem like tricky water to tread. However, we must follow groups like Go Vegan World and Viva!, who dive in regardless, to spread the message despite the risk.
HOW CAN WE HELP?
• Head to goveganworld.com to •
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follow their campaigns, or to become involved in their events. Become a member of Team Viva!, to become involved in their campaigns and fundraising, and to spread awareness. Share and support any pro-vegan advertising campaigns that you come across online.
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