False advertising law: a tool for the animal protection movement

Please note: any animal commodified, exploited for human benefit or preference, is an animal abused, you simply cannot deny the inherent rights of animals, use and take from their bodies, reproductively exploit them, separate their families, mutilate them, and kill them violently in any “humane” manner or according to a (human-manufactured) description of “welfare”.

The idea of “happy cows” or “laughing cows” or “free range” are myths perpetuated by greed and supremacy, no mother chooses to be separated from her infant and no infants wish to be violently killed or macerated.

The goal here is to remove these euphemistic descriptions and expose the fundamentally inhumane and unethical practices endemic in all farming operations, from small to CAFO and intensive sizes. SL

Source Animal Equality

Humane-Washing submission form HERE

How consumer protection litigation can advance the movement for farmed animals

How can laws designed to protect consumers be used to spare the lives and reduce the suffering of those who are consumed? Well in fact, there are various ways in which consumers’ and farmed animals’ interests actually overlap, particularly when it comes to the way meat, dairy, and egg products are marketed. 

This article provides an overview of how consumer protection legislation—in particular, laws against deceptive advertising and marketing—allow activists to litigate issues of farmed animal treatment in court.

THE CONCEPT OF “HUMANE-WASHING”: Animal and consumer advocates often use the term “humane-washing” to describe the use of words or images that convey a level of animal care and treatment that does not represent reality. Common examples are the use of phrases like “humanely raised” or “commitment to animal welfare,” or the use of imagery depicting animals outdoors in green pastures. Sellers of meat, dairy, and egg products use these misleading marketing tactics because they know consumers are concerned about the way farmed animals are treated.

WHY IT’S A PROBLEM: Why should farmed animals (and those to advocate for them) care whether meat, dairy, and egg products are deceptively marketed to omnivorous consumers? Well for one thing, humane-washing reduces transparency. It hides the truth about factory farming and undermines the work of farmed animal advocates and others who work to educate consumers about the realities of factory farming. Imagery of animals in green pastures reinforces the illusion of the animal agriculture industry as an arcadian endeavor, reflective of “Old MacDonald’s Farm” of childhood yore. If the average consumer believes these representations—and many do—they will likely be less motivated to advocate for change or to reduce animal products in their own diets.

LAWS AGAINST FALSE-ADVERTISING: Across states and nations, laws and regulations exist to protect consumers from false and deceptive marketing practices. All 50 U.S. states have statutes against consumer deception, and, at the federal level, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is responsible for enforcing similar national standards. 

Under these laws, a commercial representation is unlawfully deceptive if it is (1) likely to mislead a reasonable consumer and (2) important to that consumer’s decision-making. Humane-washing fits this description: Animal welfare is important to consumers, and phrases like “humanely raised” and bucolic imagery mislead consumers into believing the animals were raised under conditions far better than they actually were. Many state laws use a similar test, meaning humane-washing practices are unlawful at multiple levels of government.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Humane-washing is everywhere: online, in the grocery aisle, on social media, in billboards and bus ads, and even on TV. Keep an eye out for examples of humane-washing as you go about your day, and point it out to friends and family when you see it. By drawing attention to the misleading nature of these advertisements and product labels, we can shatter the myth.

In addition, the best possible way we can help animals is simply by refusing to eat them! Check out Love Veg for tips to get started: TRY PLANT-BASED NOW!

SPOTTED POSSIBLE HUMANE WASHING? LET US KNOW!

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Take PETA’s Cruelty-Free Shopping Guide along with you next time you head to the store! The handy guide will help you find humane products at a glance. Order a FREE copy HERE

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Want to do more than go vegan? Help others to do so! Click below for nominal, or no, fees to vegan literature that you can use to convince others that veganism is the only compassionate route to being an animal friend:

PETA HERE

Vegan Outreach HERE

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Have questions? Click HERE

the truth cannot be hidden by
euphemistic
platitude
unrealistic!!!!

Karen Lyons Kalmenson