Vegan charity’s ‘anti farming’ ad banned after backlash

The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has banned an advertisement by vegan charity Viva! after receiving dozens of complaints, including from the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) and Dairy Council for Northern Ireland.

An openly “anti-dairy” cinema advert, released in March 2025 after a £46,000 crowdfunding campaign, portrayed a baby being taken away from its mother, drawing misleading parallels with practices in the dairy sector.

The advertisement was expected to reach more than 1m cinemagoers and has already been watched more than 2.6m times online.

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However, following numerous complaints, the ASA has ruled that the “Dairy is Scary” advert must not appear again and told Viva! to ensure future adverts do not contain content which is likely to cause serious or widespread offence or unjustified distress to viewers.

UFU deputy president John McLenaghan said: “The advert’s message was not only misleading and inaccurate, but also harmful to the dairy sector we represent.

“Northern Ireland farmers work to the highest animal welfare standards, and the care they have for their livestock is second to none. It was extremely distressing for our members to witness this advert.

“They were extremely worried about the false narrative it was portraying to members of the public and how it would be interpreted.”

NI Dairy Council chief executive Ian Stevenson added that farmers were rightly annoyed and angered by the campaign, which he said “conveniently overlooked” the deep commitment that dairy producers have to all the animals in their herds.

“This advert from Viva! did nothing to tell the real story of what really happens on dairy farms here,” said Mr Stevenson.