A new vegan TV advert that aims to get viewers thinking twice about their diet aired in the UK today. Vegan charity Viva! is behind the “Takeaway the Meat” advertisement, which landed on Channel 4 and its associated networks.
The 30-second clip shows a couple deciding to have pulled pork for dinner. Cuddled up on a sofa with their dog, the pair place an order on a delivery app called Just Meat.
“I’m so hungry I could eat a horse,” one comments. When the delivery driver arrives, he is accompanied by a young piglet, and offers the couple a complimentary butcher’s knife. “Just Meat, delivered fresh to your door,” he tells them.
The advert’s closing statement reads: “Animals are not just meat.” And encourages viewers to “try going vegan.”
Viva! hopes the video will help people draw comparisons between the animals we live with, whom we call our pets, and the ones we consume as food.
Viva!’s pro-vegan advert
The advert was made possible after a successful crowdfunding campaign held by Viva!, which raked in £80,000. The animal protection charity expects the ad to reach around 16 million viewers.
“To be a catalyst for change we recognise that we must stay ahead of the curve with our messaging, to have the biggest impact and reach as many people as possible. By broadcasting our first ever vegan TV advert on mainstream television, we’re hopeful we can give veganism the airtime it needs!” Juliet Gellatley, founder and director of Viva!, said in a statement sent to Plant Based News.
“Most people in the UK despise cruelty to animals, yet simply don’t make the connection between animal cruelty and what is on their plate. If we can encourage people to think about what they consume, at a time when delicious vegan alternatives are widely available, we can play a part – on a national scale – in helping to change mindsets and save animals.”
Indeed, research indicates that consumer awareness can influence food habits. A recently published study found that students who learned about how factory farms produce meat are more likely to cut down on meat consumption.
But the implications of eating animals span further than animal welfare, Viva!’s Gellatley warns.
“In addition to the shocking brutality forced upon animals farmed for food, the animal agriculture industry is wreaking havoc across our planet. It is the leading driver of wildlife loss and releases more greenhouse gases than the entire world’s transport sector,” they commented.
“With delicious vegan alternatives widely available, there has never been an easier, tastier or more important time to go vegan.”
For more information about when and where Viva!’s vegan advert will air, see here.
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Not a bad ad. I’m all for being aware of what you are eating. Children should also visit farms to see the actual animals, and to also see how plants are grown.
On the other hand, the argument that “if you don’t kill it yourself, you shouldn’t eat it” is kinda weak. We pay people to do our work all the time. That’s the basic idea of a society. If you order a table, you don’t get a tree and an axe delivered either.
Thanks for your comment!
Great point!
You’d find though that if given an axe people would be able to cut down a tree, however would not be able to kill an animal…
Food for thought?
They would if it was a question of survival! Which for multi-millions of people across the world it still is. However cutting down an older oak tree which is a mini ecosystem, would result in the demise of hundreds of insects, not to mention mosses, lichens, fungi, plants and animals that depend on them. I know which I prefer.
Fair point.