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

12 pages into a lively discussion about the ethical implications of using animal products, I'd say the advert did its job 😁

Actually, I described it as 'shocking'. And yes, some parts are and I'm not against them being improved, but I don't lose sleep over it.

What paranoia are you talking about? There are plenty of people (on this thread even) who speak about meat eaters as if they are immoral, unethical, beastly people. Are you telling me that given the chance they wouldn't force everyone onto a vegan diet? Not saying they could, but the extremism is only coming from one side.

I'm also not dictating what others should do or believe. I'm certainly not telling people what they should or shouldn't include in their diet. I think you'll find the only ones telling other people what to do are on the other side. If people want to wave banners, hand out leaflets, raise awareness then that is up to them and they have the freedom in this country to do so, but a cinema is a paid for service. It is not appropriate to preach at people who just want to watch a movie after paying £18 for the privilege.

How does watching the ad prevent you from making choices?

Ahahaha

@CorylusAgain I really disagree. Adverts are designed to make people change their behaviour and they use all sorts of emotional manipulation, including making people feel guilty, to do it.
Now I understand that PETA wants us to feel guilty enough to either give up meat or put pressure on the industry, to improve welfare and I've got a fair bit of sympathy for that because morally, they are right. But, it's not right for the cinema to allow preaching and guilt tripping to a captive audience (imo). And not during a light hearted film. Save it for Oppenheimer, if they must.

I love how eating something that doesn't require death is extreme.

Off to make an extremist pie and chips.

I apologise for the misquote @Tootsweets84 but it changes nothing.

The outrage you express is extraordinary.

What paranoia are you talking about? There are plenty of people (on this thread even) who speak about meat eaters as if they are immoral, unethical, beastly people. Are you telling me that given the chance they wouldn't force everyone onto a vegan diet?

That's all in your head. No one has said any of that on this thread. I don't know anyone who would advocate forced veganism.

It's a discussion about a 90 second cartoon.

Slight tangent but how is love actually light hearted?
Stalky
Cheaty
Letchy
Icky
The only story that's actually romantic is the ones acting the sex scene.

I couldn't really give two shits about whether vegans care that I'm 'cruel' or not

The problem is, OP, that it is you yourself who cares whether you are “cruel” or not. Hence your upset and offence at the ad. Instead of projecting your upset onto others in the form of anger and seeking to find blame, either make peace with your choices or choose differently.

Are you happy for adverts for alcoholic drinks to be shown? Or betting websites? Or fast food outlets? All adverts are manipulative. Alcohol and gambling and food addictions are destroying families and killing people daily. Adverts for consumer items cause debt and depression etc etc
It seems odd to me to pick this as being inappropriate out of all adverts

Again, I'm not sure where you're seeing outrage. I'm very comfortable with my dietary choices and have no real interest in the diets of others. What I'm not comfortable with is being preached to and whether you care to admit it or not, many (if not most) vegans are very preachy. Many of us have had the misfortune of a patronising rant from a vegan who is seemingly incapable of just eating their own food and leaving us to eat ours. It isn't meat eaters out there pouring milk all over the floor or plastering stickers over the meat in the supermarkets. If you think your choices are morally superior good for you! Most people couldn't give two shits

PETA People Eating Tasty Animals 😅

Animals killed in halal slaugter are stunned.

@CorylusAgain I wouldn't allow gambling adverts because they encourage destructive behaviour and are unnecessary. I'm not sure about alcohol and fast food - tbh they probably don't serve any positive purpose either, but what they don't do is distress people who are out for a nice, lighthearted time.
I wouldn't ban the PETA ad from tv, where there's an option to turn it off. It's just that at the cinema, the IP doesn't have that option. She's made a choice to see a lighthearted film and that advert ruins it.

I'm not keen on adverts at the cinema really, generally. People have paid a fortune to watch a film and they shouldn't be forced to sit through all the dross first.

OP had better avoid the new Chicken Run movie. By all accounts it'll be a shocker

amp.theguardian.com/film/2023/dec/10/a-vegan-morality-tale-chicken-run-sequel-puts-factory-farming-in-spotlight

Excuse me while I split my sides...

I won't be watching for this reason. Same as I refuse to watch the first one and why I'll never watch Babe again. However, they are choices I was able to make for myself

I eat meat and I wouldn't mind having my child with me, watching this. I think it's important to see where their food comes from.
Mind you, I would like to see an ad for vegan sausages and cheese too. As in, the whole process of production.

@MarthaMayWho thanks, appreciate your response. Agree vegetarian is much easier than vegan, especially with kids. Good to hear you think flexitarian / reducing meat is worthwhile and it's not all-or-nothing.

One thing I'd like to see is much stricter rules on animal welfare in the food industry. Animal products are always going to exist, despite the decisions individuals make, and I'd really like to see better standards throughout.

I've been veggie since 1997, and I'd object to being subjected to being shown this in the cinema - different to TV because in the cinema you're a captive audience, and it's also fair to assume that the adverts you're going to be exposed to will be at a similar level (in terms of violence, tone etc) as the film you've chosen to see. PETA help neither themselves or animals with their tactics sometimes.

@DisappearingGirl sounds like you might be interested in the work RSPCA are doing. At the moment the RSPCA assured products are the best for welfare in the UK. They are trying to stop beak clipping and tail docking for example. It's worth looking at because it gives you a good idea of what the actual best standard is as opposed to the image portrayed by labelling and imagery, which I'm sure will help you on your journey.

I started out thirty years ago as the only vegetarian in the village and now family and friends are all varying degrees of vegan, veggie and flexiterian. I think once you start and incorporate some good non meat meals into your diet it's easy to get to where you want to be. (My partner for example used to have meat with every meal and now is vegan. His choice but a huge transformation he couldn't have imagined)

What I would say is if you ever get to the point that you want to go vegan, you do have to give up cheese and milk for a while while your body adjusts. Milk has a hormone in it that makes it addictive (it just keeps baby cows from wandering off) but as a result dairy is addictive to humans and vegan cheese does not fill that gap.

That's the only time you need to go cold turkey I'd say, but but as a vegan I should probably say cold tofu.
Weird expression none the less!

There's more and more of this proselytizing shit at cinemas lately. It just makes me arrive later so I don't have to put up with the ads I'd have happily watched otherwise.

Like I’ve written before cinemas have no control over adverts, only yrs ago could you remove a advert, such as a cigarette ad You could not screen them with any film but X certificate

To be fair, it is perfectly possible to resent someone trying to make you feel guilty without actually feeling guilty. People who use loaded, emotive language (some, not all, vegans are definitely guilty of this) to try to browbeat others into certain behaviours. It is the manipulative behaviour that causes resentment. That doesn't mean that you 'deep down know they're right' or anything like it. It just means you object to cheap emotional blackmail.