Animal Aid cinema ad continues to drive meaningful change

Our anti-dairy advert first appeared on television earlier this year, on Channel 4, More 4, and across thousands of Sky channels, going on to reach 14 million viewers nationwide. But the ad was always destined for the big screen, where our Choose Compassion, Choose Vegan message could really drive home. 

Using footage from UK dairy farms, like the one above, and showing the plight of innocent calves stolen from their mothers only to be kept isolated in tiny, plastic pens, the advert has already encouraged so many people to think differently about their milk consumption.  

The advert will be playing in Cineworld, Vue, Odeon and Picturehouse cinemas until Thursday 10 April. Please get in touch if you’d like a detailed breakdown of show times. 

Pushback from industry press 

Just this week, news of our nationwide cinema ad was picked up by industry press publication Farmers Guardian. The article (behind a paywall) suggests the public should attend a farm ‘open day’ instead where they can see how cows are treated for themselves. Sadly, because so much of what dairy cows endure happens behind closed doors, it’s laughable to think that an ‘open day’ is anything other than another attempt from the industry to win over the public. 

Countless undercover investigations have revealed what happens when the open day ends, and the doors close. Cows are confined, sexually abused, beaten, injured and sick, forcibly separated from their babies and then finally corralled into trucks destined for the slaughterhouse. 

The suffering of dairy cows also goes far beyond ‘one off’ instances of abuse, which the Farmers Guardian article fails to address. The entire system is rotten, in which heinous acts of cruelty (such as artificial insemination, mutilations, and separating mothers and calves) are routine and legal and practiced across the industry. But the dairy industry doesn’t see these examples as acts of cruelty, or as stripping cows of their dignity and rights – and therein lies the true terror of dairy. 

*Don’t forget that all donations to our Terror on Our Tables campaign, up to £50,000, are being matched by a generous donor. Donate today and your contribution will have double the impact!