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Tesco has denied rumors that it has ‘censored’ its advert for vegan sausages.
The retail giant launched its ad called Carl’s ‘All-Change’ Casserole, on the radio, TV, and posters earlier this month. It features a father called Carl, who reformulates his sausage casserole recipe after his young daughter comes home from school one day and says: “I don’t want to eat animals anymore.”
A number of social media users discussed the advert on Twitter, asking whether it had been censored – but Tesco told Plant Based News that this is not the case.
‘Demonizes meat’
The speculation followed multiple discussions of the ad on television and in newspapers, after the National Farmers Union releasing a statement accusing Tesco of ‘demonizing’ farmers.
“The NFU believes that messaging such as this is demonizing meat as a food group, which not only has negative connotations for farmers but also for the avocation of customers eating a healthy balanced diet,” it said.
“The NFU is clear that food and nutrition must be looked at as a whole, rather than food groups in isolation. Meat as a food group provides naturally rich in protein and are a good source of iron, zinc and essential vitamins.
“There are certain parts of the population, especially teenage girls, who are currently not eating sufficient quantities of these micro-nutrients to fulfil their dietary requirement.”
Changes
According to a Twitter user, a line in the advert had been changed from ‘I don’t want to eat meat’ instead of ‘I don’t want to eat animals’.
But a Tesco spokesperson told PBN that the advert hasn’t changed.
They added that the supermarket does have a shortened 10-second advert which does not feature the girl’s line about ‘not wanting to eat animals’ at all, as it places a greater focus on the products in the short time available.
