Happy Cows ads stay as govt is immune from false advertising laws --SF Chronicle 1/12/05

[Guest guest]

Below is the alert from DawnWatch (a fantastic resource for people

interested in staying up to date on stories about animals in the media,

and in writing letters to editors) about an article in today's Chronicle

about the " happy cow " ads. The Chronicle takes letters at

letters.

 

 

DawnWatch [news]

Wednesday, January 12, 2005 4:57 PM

nora

DawnWatch: " Happy Cows " ads stay as govt is immune from false

advertising laws --SF Chronicle 1/12/05

 

 

Those of us in California are familiar with the amusing but misleading

'Happy Cows' advertisements from the California Milk Producers Advisory

Board. The theme of the cartoon-style campaign is " Good cheese comes

from happy cows. Happy cows come from California. " It shows cows on

rolling green hills, chatting happily to each other about the California

good life. The campaign, though light-hearted, is clearly taking

advantage of the increasing public concern for animal welfare, using the

preferable conditions in California as the basis for the pitch to buy

California dairy products.

 

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sued the milk board. An

article in the Wednesday, January 12, San Francisco Chronicle (Pg C2)

tells us, " The ads, funded by dairy farms, were misleading, Peta argued,

because California dairy cows commonly spend their lives in dirt and

mud, are repeatedly impregnated and milked throughout their pregnancies,

often suffer painful maladies, and are slaughtered when they can no

longer meet the industry's production demands. A court may not be able

to tell whether cows are truly happy, the organization said, but it

should decide whether consumers are being led down the primrose path. "

 

Sadly, that article, headed, " Dairy farms can keep milking their 'Happy

Cows' campaign, " tells us:

 

" An animal-rights group's suit against a state milk board for its 'Happy

Cows' advertising campaign was put out to pasture Tuesday by a state

appeals court, which said state agencies can't be sued for false

advertising....

 

" San Francisco Superior Court Judge David Garcia dismissed the suit,

saying the false-advertising and unfair-competition laws invoked by Peta

can be used only against individuals, companies and private

associations, not government agencies. "

 

In other words, government agencies are free to lie to the public.

 

You can read the whole article on line at:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/0

1/12/BUG0TAOPRK1.DTL

or http://tinyurl.com/3mrba

 

For more information on the law-suit, and the way dairy cows live,

including distressing photographs and footage, visit

http://www.unhappycows.com/

 

And please send a letter to the Chronicle. You might discuss the way

animals raised for human food are treated, or sing the praises of soy

milk. The San Francisco Chronicle takes letters at:

letters and advises, " Please limit your letters to 200

or fewer words ... shorter letters have a better chance of being

selected for publication. "

 

Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when

sending a letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be

published.

 

Yours and the animals',

Karen Dawn

 

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues

in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media

outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at

http://www.DawnWatch.com. To , go to

www.DawnWatch.com/.php. If you forward or reprint DawnWatch

alerts, please do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and

include this tag line.)

 

 

--