Vegan Christmas Advert: Cinema

[InAMess2023]

Had a lovely festive day out with the girls yesterday and went to see Love Actually (20 year re-release). Settled down to watch a film and an advert came on... it's a cartoon turkey (voiced by Jane Horrocks) looking at all the Christmas traditions and singing a jolly Christmas carol... no idea what the ad is for...

All of the sudden the turkey (still singing) is grabbed and thrown in a van...we then see the full journey of it being hung up by the neck, electrocuted, and the screen goes black just as it's killed. The caption? 'Kill tradition this Christmas. Not a Turkey - go vegan this Christmas' - it's an ad for PETA.

Now I have absolutely no problem with vegans, can understand the reasoning around it, etc. but I don't have a desire to be vegan. Probably am a bit hypocritical as I am an absolute animal lover but yes I do eat meat (although not a ton of it).

Just feel like the ad was really inappropriate for the cinema and especially what is meant to be a festive feel-good film! Do I complain to the Cinema Advertising Associates/ASA?

YABU it's an important issue and you shouldn't complain
YANBU totally inappropriate - make a complaint

I'm with Jane Horrocks and PETA on this sorry, killing innocent animals isn't very "festive" in my book.

I haven't seen it but it sounds inappropriate to show that before that film.

The message doesn't make sense: either it's cruel to kill animals, in which case the ad is offensive because it depicts animal killing, or it's not, in which case the ad is irrelevant.

The message doesn't make sense: either it's cruel to kill animals, in which case the ad is offensive because it depicts animal killing, or it's not, in which case the ad is irrelevant.

Huh? I 'm not vegan, but are you saying that the documenting/showing of others' offensive acts in order to promote awareness of them and try to stop them is in itself inherently offensive?!

This is the advert

YABU.

I will be settling down to eat my turkey dinner this Christmas.

It is perfectly OK for people who don't like this happening to try and persuade me not to.

I’m afraid you are indeed a hypocrite if you say you are an “absolute animal lover” but eat meat. The meat industry involves an enormous level of animal suffering.

This would piss me off if I had my small children with me

I wouldn't like this before the cinema either at all.....and not because I'm offended at the killing of a turkey. As a meat eater I'm well aware of where my meat comes from, how it is killed etc, and I still choose to eat it....that's my choice. The part that offends me is the shoving of other people's views down my throat.
That's what actually really annoys me about (a lot of) vegans....they can't just be vegans and get on with their own vegan lives, they've got to take every opportunity to lecture, preach and guilt-trip all non-vegans. Do they really think people will watch that ad and see it as the final straw that convinces them to convert?

And it's not just a certain type of vegan that annoys me, it's any member of society with strong views on lifestyle choices/religion etc that feel they are superior and need to spend their lives trying to convince others that their views/choices are best.

I actually just watched the ad in the link and I actually think the whole things is very "bah humbug" - what's wrong with kids sending a letter to a "man with a beard"? what's wrong with young children believing in elves? What's wrong with 2 consenting adults deciding to kiss under mistletoe?

Why does the fact that it made you feel uncomfortable make it inappropriate? Do you consider reporting charity campaign adverts? Party political broadcasts?

Why would you have your small children with you in a 15 certificate film showing?

Why is that okay tho? Surely everyone can make their own choice and leave everyone else to make theirs?

As a vegan since before it was cool (started in 2004), I think this sort of shock tactic messaging has been so overdone it's making everyone desensitised to the message at best, and at worst it's offending people and putting them off exploring the cause.

People who are already vegan will nod along to an advert like that going "YES THIS IS SO IMPORTANT" and people who are not vegan will go "WTF is this?!?!"

It's not a conversation starter. It's not making people think. It's being displayed at a moment when people are shutting down conversation and about to watch a film.

The epitome of bad marketing.

I really wish the v-holes (most of whom are recent vegans) would actually think about what made them go vegan and what might persuade other people to try it instead of launching these sort of emotionally abusive attacks on unsuspecting members of the public then expecting them to fall in with groupthink.

Polarising content like this has no place in converting people to a cause, it's only effective in maintaining people's resolve once they are converts. So maybe critical thinking veg*an types should question who the advert is actually aimed at and what their success criteria is. Are they really trying to get new vegans on board or are they trying to galvanise existing vegans at a time of year when there's a lot of temptation (and pointless animal murder)?

This is why I don't want any part of the newly-minted vegan community (except the recipes lol) and most of my long-term vegan friends feel the same.

Why do you assume people with different views to you consider themselves superior? Why do you get to be vocal about your views and anyone who deviates from the norm has to be quiet about theirs?

If that advert makes you uneasy or offends you then perhaps its time to reconsider your eating habits?

Have you not seen any advertising before?

It's all about persuading you to make a different choice to the one you might have made to begin with. That's the point.

If Tesco are allowed to try and get you to eat their delicious turkey this Christmas, why can't PETA try and get you not to?

If I was to get pompous about it, I would say that it's a fundamental part of our liberal democratic society that we are all able to talk to each other and try and persuade others of our point of view.

@FruitFeatures many vegans often come across as superior by lecturing/preaching therefore, giving the impression there way is better. I've not once tried to convince a vegan to eat a steak

Love actually is a 15, so there won't be kids in the cinema. The ads clearly designed to shock, but doesn't sound inappropriate to me.

@MasterBeth I do get the concept of advertising and that makes sense.

I was replying to the comment from the pp that said "It is perfectly OK for people who don't like this happening to try and persuade me not to."

What I'm not okay with is people pushing their views on to others and preaching to us all about how we should live

Maybe @swuahies hasn’t tried to convince a vegan to eat a steak but as a vegetarian I can attest to numerous meat eaters trying to convince me that “animals are delicious”.

I think the advert sounds revolting but there’s something weird about being more offended that you’re forced to confront such things happening than at them happening in the first place.

@swuahies good for you, I guess. Are they actually preaching/lecturing though? Or just answering questions and telling you things you don't want to hear?

I'm asking because I've been vegan for 10 years and literally never tell people unless I'm asked for dietary preferences because if it does come up (like if I refuse a canape at a party or something) almost always I get a barrage of questions about why I'm vegan, what I eat and whether I miss bacon. If I answer honestly then I get accused of preaching but like, if you don't want an answer, don't ask.

You wouldn't take small children to watch Love Actually though, would you? Entirely irrelevant hypothetical scenario.

I think you need to toughen up a bit if you can't cope with people sharing their opinions with you. Don't you take a stand on anything? Call out things that you think are immoral / unacceptable / obscene?

Why is that okay tho? Surely everyone can make their own choice and leave everyone else to make theirs?

You still get to make your own choice. Companies and organisations are allowed to try to persuade you though. That's how advertising works.

What I'm not okay with is people pushing their views on to others and preaching to us all about how we should live.

It's good to be exposed to contrasting views. You can disagree with them without wanting to ban them or trying to ensure that you never come in contact with them.

You are NOT an animal lover, you eat them for goodness sake, sentient beings, who feel fear and pain. You choose which animals are worthy of being a pet and those that deserve to die. I never , ever get involved in these hypocritical arguments, but I am so fed up with it now, people professing to love animals, but are happy to eat them, but, oh no, let's pretend they aren't actually killed, chopped up, and packaged.
I hope more and more of these ads are made, to let people see the suffering they are causing by funding the meat and dairy market.