Community
Print
A major advert starring vegan athletes and urging people to ditch dairy will screen across the States during the start of the Winter Olympics closing ceremony.
The commercial – part of the ‘Switch4Good’ campaign – will air regionally in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., San Francisco and Dallas.
It features five former Olympians talking about the benefits they derived from going vegan, and is directed by Louie Psihoyos, known for The Cove and upcoming documentary The Game Changers.
The advert is part of a campaign which aims to counter some of the claims made about milk by the dairy industry.
Stars
The athletes in the advert include Dotsie Bausch, a silver medal-winning cyclist who is leading the campaign.
It also stars sprinter Malachi Davis (2004 games), and former soccer player Kara Lang (2008 games).
Seba Johnson – the Olympics’ first black female skier in 1988 – also stars, alongside Kendrick Farris, who is best known as the only U.S. male weightlifter to qualify for the Rio games – as well as being a three-time Olympian.
Plant-based
Speaking to industry magazine Adweek, Bausch said: “I switched to a whole foods, plant-based diet about two and a half years before the 2012 Olympic games.
“I stood on the podium at 39 years old, the oldest competitor ever in my specific discipline.
“My diet change was the key factor in me being able to recover quicker, decrease inflammation and have all the stamina and energy I needed to compete against competitors 20 years my junior.”
She added that going vegan made her body ‘like a machine’.
Advert
The commercial opens with Kendrick Farris, who says: “I did it, and I got stronger.”
Sprinter Malachi Davis adds: “I did it to run faster – I did, I could breathe better.”
The spot ends with the athletes saying they are ‘proud to be dairy-free’ – urging viewers to ‘switch for good’.
You canwatch the ad on YouTube here
