Consuming animal products is so entrenched in our culture that it is rarely questioned. Adverts for meat, dairy and eggs surround us on our streets and our screens. But behind the billboards, intensively farming animals is causing immeasurable suffering and inflicting colossal damage on nature and the climate. None of us wants to support this – but advertising holds us in a collective denial about the real origins, and impacts, of our food. This is a call to everyone who cares about a more sustainable, kinder food system: let’s challenge misinformation and end advertising for factory-farmed food.
Read our guide:
We look at nine tactics used by advertisers to help us dissociate from the real origins of the meat, dairy and eggs we consume.
What can we do about it?
End meat, egg and dairy advertising. Tobacco advertising was banned to prevent harm caused by encouraging smoking. Let’s call on our MPs to end advertising for intensively farmed meat, dairy and eggs.
You can call on your MP today to back a ban on the most damaging and polluting products including meat and dairy. Take action now.
Introduce ethical and low-carbon advertising policies. Councils in the UK can restrict advertising for harmful products such as meat, eggs and dairy. See our resources for councillors.
Expose misleading advertising. If you spot a misleading advert, you can submit a complaint to the UK advertising regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority.
Create ad-free places. Billboards and bus stop ads are a major platform for meat, egg and dairy companies and retailers to sell us stories about happy cows in green pastures. Adfree Cities is a network of groups taking action to reduce advertising around the UK. Join your local Adblock group, or start your own!