ASA received 63 complaints over Vegan Friendly UK advert aimed at highlighting hypocrisy among meat-eaters
The 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 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.”
While the ad was given a restriction preventing it from being shown close to programmes likely to be watched by children under 16, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 63 complaints, including that the ad contained gratuitous violence towards animals, which caused unnecessary distress to viewers.
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.
