ASA bans Viva! anti-dairy advertisement
A vegan charity with a history of challenging meat trade body activities has had its latest anti-dairy advert banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
Viva! has previously challenged a Red Tractor Scheme advert in 2018 and an AHDB “Eat Balanced” advert in 2021. However, the ASA did not uphold either of these complaints, as it deemed that the adverts were not in breach of ASA regulation.
The latest advert from the charity showed a woman eating from a yoghurt pot labelled ‘Mother’s Grief” as she stirred raw and bloodied offal through the yoghurt and smiling through a mouth of fake blood.
The ASA received complaints after the advert was shown to underage audiences on sites such as Facebook, Duolingo and YouTube. Viva! has since stated that it had not been aware that ads on YouTube could also appear on other sites, and that if it placed this ad again, it would not show anywhere but YouTube.
Removed by the ASA
On its website, the ASA said: “The ASA acknowledged that the ad was intended to be a parody of ads for popular food products like fruit yoghurts, which were typically light-hearted and wholesome in tone.
“However, the ad featured blood and offal being mixed into the yoghurt in the place of fruit or jam, with close-up shots of the offal. The woman was shown eating the blood and offal whilst smiling, with blood dripping from her mouth and teeth.
“Although we acknowledged people would understand the ad was intended as a comment on animal welfare, we considered the graphic and gory imagery was likely to shock and cause a sense of disgust.”
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