An ad by a vegan charity branding Muller’s corner yogurts as a “killer” and showing a woman with fake blood gushing from her mouth has been banned because of the “explicit and gory imagery” that could lead to serious and widespread offenses to lead.
Viva! ran the clip on social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram, as well as other apps like DuoLingo.
The video showed a woman eating a “Mother’s Grief” yogurt filled with offal resembling a fake umbilical cord and blood.
At the end of the segment, fake blood can be seen seeping out of her mouth as it covers her lips and teeth and trickles down her chin.
A voiceover said, “New from Killer Yoghurts: the umbilical cord flavor. Produced with only the best ingredients: the stolen milk of grieving mothers. Taste the agony in every bite. Mixed with brutality. Be an accomplice, with Killer Yoghurts.”
The ad ended with fake blood dripping from the woman’s mouth and teeth
The ad is then replaced by images of cows, as the voiceover continues, “It’s a killer. These Muller cows have never grazed a blade of grass.
‘All mothers have their newborn baby stolen. Calves are denied their mother’s love.
‘Mother cows are killed when their milk production drops. Many newborn babies are slaughtered.’
The cheerful music in the first half of the ad is replaced by sinister music, accompanied by the sound of distressed cows.
In a final scene, an indoor dairy barn full of cows could be seen and the text: ‘Enthusiastic to enjoy? Intensive dairy farming is on the rise in Great Britain.’
Advertising watchdog ASA received seven complaints about the ad, ruling it violated their standards.
In a statement on its website, the watchdog said: “The ASA acknowledged that the ad was intended to parody advertisements for popular food products such as fruit yogurt, which were typically airy and healthy in tone.
“However, the ad mixed blood and offal into the yogurt instead of fruit or jam, with close-ups of the offal.
The woman smilingly ate the blood and offal as the blood dripped from her mouth and teeth.
The “Killer” yogurt boasted that it was flavored with “Mother’s sorrow!”
A voiceover said, “New from Killer Yoghurts – the umbilical cord flavor”
The ASA criticized the ‘graphic and gory images’ which they say would be particularly distressing for children
“While we recognized that people would understand that the ad was intended as a commentary on animal welfare, we felt that the graphic and gory imagery was likely to shock and cause a sense of disgust.
“We felt that the combination of the woman’s happy and healthy demeanor with graphic close-ups of blood and offal was likely to further emphasize the graphic and gory imagery.
“We also looked at language like “the umbilical cord taste”, “…the stolen milk of grieving mothers. Taste the torment in every bite. Mingled with brutality. Be complicit, with Killer yogurts”, alongside the graphic and gory imagery This will probably be experienced as frightening and disturbing, especially for children.
“We recognized that an ad referring to animal welfare could cause distress to some people, and in light of the language used and the gory scenes, we felt that the distress this ad was likely to cause, particularly to children, was not was justified.
“We therefore concluded that the ad was likely to cause serious or widespread violations and unjustified suffering.”
Viva! had told the ASA that the ad was designed as a “theatrically staged parody” and was aimed at adults only.
The charity said viewers were becoming “increasingly numb to shocking factors such as death and violence on TV” and believed the advert was mild in comparison.
But the ASA ruled that the ad had appeared on YouTube to under-18s and that Viva! to show the ad only to adults were ‘insufficient’.
They added that the content of the video would be particularly distressing for children.
It said the ad should not reappear in its current format, adding, “We told Viva! to ensure that future advertisements are prepared responsibly, are targeted to the right audience and do not contain explicit scenes or language that are likely to cause viewers undue distress.”
Muller declined to comment when approached by MailOnline.
Viva! We have been contacted for comment.