Why we’re lifting the lid on factory farming and advertising

From Amsterdam to Hackney, councils are taking action to end advertising for one of the most destructive industries on the planet: Industrial Animal Agriculture, or Big Ag.

Our campaign launches today to support this bold, necessary progress. We will explore the tactics and impacts of advertising which promotes the products of factory farming. We’ll show how action on ads everywhere can help shift power away from this industry towards a more sustainable, kinder food system: for farmers, our health, communities and animals.

A unifying problem

Most of the food advertising we see in our streets and on our screens is promoting meat, dairy and other products from the industrial farming system. Adverts like this support just a handful of giant corporations; this restricts the freedom of small producers to compete fairly, and it restricts our ability to support them.

Most people are appalled by factory farming, with 56% of UK people supporting an outright ban. However, with limited information about the origins of our food from adverts and labelling, we may not realise that we’re buying products from factory farms. Adverts never reveal this, let alone show us what conditions are like. If they did, we might think twice about buying their products. 

This is at best misleading, and it is deliberately so. Consider that animals are usually missing from adverts for animal-based foods. Where they do feature - despite 85% of farmed animals in the UK being confined in intensive conditions where cruel practices are standard - advertising overwhelmingly shows healthy animals in outdoor settings, often depicting small farms, and misleadingly shows animals alongside their offspring. (source: Animal Law Foundation).

Gag Big Ag unites organisations from multiple sectors. While our missions may vary, we all recognise that advertising for Big Meat and Dairy is pushing us in the wrong direction. 

A bold solution

By removing the visual pollution of Big Ag ads, we can shift demand and power away from big corporations. We can see what’s really on our plates, and our communities can have the freedom to choose a food system which reflects our values.

Fresh food sourced from smaller farms

This year, Amsterdam became the first capital city globally to ban advertising for meat, as part of the city’s move to end advertising for high carbon, polluting industries. The London borough of Hackney has committed to end advertising for meat and dairy on sites under the council’s control - this will make them the first UK council to do so. Several UK councils have already banned advertising for other harmful products such as gambling, unhealthy food, SUVs and fossil fuels. Adding meat advertising into the mix may seem radical to some, but it makes good sense not to allow harmful industries the space - particularly public space - to promote their products.

We know that ending advertising is only part of the solution. We need to see government support for farmers to boost sustainable food production, including fruit, beans, nuts and vegetables in the UK. This is essential for our health, and for our future food security. We need to see measures which make it easier and affordable for people to access healthier, plant based foods. Removing adverts which normalise, promote, and conceal the impacts of a food system that we badly need to shift away from, is an essential piece of the puzzle.

Look out for videos, blogs, podcasts and ways to get involved over the coming weeks, and join the call to Gag Big Ag.