Campaign addresses its critics in open letter to journalists and the public
These ads are “incredibly offensive, disingenuous and inappropriate in a public space. It’s outrageous.”
“They convey a sense of hatred towards people with an omnivorous diet.”
“The ads are not telling the benefits of veganism they’re shaming non-vegans.”
“These ads are intimidation and reflect psychological violence.”
MONTREAL, Sept. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The “uncomfortable truths” exposed by the BeFairBeVegan advertisements have been greeted with the exact reception one would expect: open-minded curiosity from one side, thoughtful and considered commentary from another, and outright contempt and ridicule from yet another.
Alongside an outpouring of gratitude from those who recognize the messaging to be both carefully-considered and socially significant, there has also been a barrage of hate-filled messages from furious critics, some calling the campaign ‘bullying,’ ‘intimidation,’ and ‘shaming,’ and some even engaging in outright vandalism of the ads.
The organization points out that their campaign is not an attack on anyone, asserting “stating facts cannot be described as bashing, by any coherent definition of the word. By contrast, ridiculing vegans on the air by calling us ‘hypocrites,’ ‘terrorists,’ ‘completely crazy,’ and telling us to ‘eat cow sh*t,’ is textbook bashing.”
In addition to the unfavorable segment on 98.5 fm’s Drainville PM, official complaints from members of the public have been filed over the ads: both in Toronto, where St. George transit station is currently hosting a montage of BeFairBeVegan messaging, and in Montreal, where the organization says the displays have received more thoughtful and considered commentary than they have in perhaps any other city.
In addition to responding to the ad standards authority directly, the organization has also published an open letter addressing the pushback they have received, stating: “These attempts to discredit our campaign are just the latest examples of efforts to muddy the waters around what the public must ultimately acknowledge as a tremendously urgent social justice issue.”