New Grantham billboards will ask ‘When did you last kill an animal?

By MARIA CHIORANDO

Major new pro-vegan billboards in the UK ask passers-by provocative questions about eating animals.

The boards, created by animal protection charity Viva!, have been put up at 60 locations across the East Midlands, including Nottingham, Leicester, Northampton Derby, Beeston, Heanor, Hinckley, and Grantham.

Carefully placed in high footfall areas, and in bus stops – where people have time to absorb the message – the giant posters feature pictures of animals, including cows and chickens, with questions like ‘when did you last kill an animal?’.

‘Uncomfortable hypocrisy’

Viva! wanted the boards to highlight the ‘uncomfortable hypocrisy that we love some animals and condemn others to a life of suffering’, saying ‘all too often, people choose to buy animal products without making the connection to the animal who has suffered and been killed in order to be on their plate’.

Different messages were tested on meat-eaters. Viva! found the most effective approach when it came to starting a productive dialogue was to ask the questions ‘so many choose to ignore’.

‘Bringing the message home’

Viva! worked with Plant Based News’ creative team to design the boards, with PBN co-founder Robbie Lockie taking on the creative director role, and Rob Halhead designing.

“The PBN creative team has been playing an active role in Viva’s campaigns for a number of years now,” Robbie Lockie said.

“To be involved in such a big campaign is an honor as always. Billboards are always super exciting to create because of their physical nature. Seeing people take pictures and react to them brings home the message so much more.”

‘Veganism has exploded’

“Veganism has exploded and today it is more popular than ever. However, despite this surge in popularity, many people are still unaware that the neatly packaged animal products on supermarket shelves come from factory farms where animals are kept in shocking conditions. We’re constantly told that the UK has the highest animal welfare standards in the world, but this just isn’t true,” said Juliet Gellatley, Viva!’s founder and director said in a statement sent to PBN.

“In 2018, over one billion animals were slaughtered for the food industry in the UK, most of which were factory farmed. Factory farmed animals are kept in cramped and squalid conditions, pumped full of antibiotics to minimize diseases created by such unnatural conditions.

“Viva! is using these billboards to capture the public’s attention and raise the intriguing question of why we love certain animals yet eat others. Britain is a nation of animal lovers and over 50 percent of the population has a companion animal. We’re hopeful that this campaign will resonate with these people and encourage them to choose vegan.”

The public is being asked to share their pictures of the billboards on social media using the hashtags #ChooseVeganBillboards and #FavouriteAnimal.

Maria is the editor of Plant Based News.