People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals just can’t get a break. They’ve been shut down by California’s high court on their false advertising suit against the state Milk Advisory Board, which has the bad taste to show “happy cows grazing in lush green pastures” in its commercials. I’d put this in the same category as fast-food restaurants’ depictions of their food in commercials – only fleetingly connected to the actual reality, but everyone knows it. You don’t get cheap milk from happy cows in green pastures. As Marge Simpson said, “We can’t afford a store with a philosophy.” Nonetheless Reason’s Julian Sanchez still has a beef (pardon the pun) with the milkies:
As a government entity (its part of California’s agriculture department), the MAB is exempt from the state’s false advertising laws. That raises the disturbing prospect that an industry can get a free pass on fraudulent claims so long as it filters them through some state bureau set up to tout their goods. Of couurse, given the penchant of all sorts of government agencies for making bullshit claims, you can scarcely blame them for wanting the exemption.
Good point. And good luck getting anyone but animal-rights activists to care. Seriously – it would be nice to have more of a national discussion on animal treatment in food production between outlandish activists and agribusiness.
Speaking of happy cows, has anyone else heard of Bovine Unite? There were guys in cow costumes at my Metro station this morning, handing out toy cows and cards with that website listed. The site’s purpose is cryptic, but it’s funny as hell – a cow manifesto against humans, videos of the humanoid cows working out at the gym (and a hot young woman ogling them), a cow-centric Hangman game and even a Bovine Blog. They took video of my Bethesda neighborhood in their adventures too, which made me feel “in.” The rumor is it’s a viral marketing campaign for some local company. Again, shades of the “Simpsons” episode where Joshua Jackson plays an animal-rights activist who dresses up as a cow to protest KrustyBurger. Is there anything that can’t be referenced in that show?
I’m a tech journalist who’s making a TV show about a college newspaper.