Big meat and dairy companies spend more on greenwashing their practices through marketing than they do on pursuing real climate solutions, according to a new report. They are working with PR consultants that helped oil and tobacco companies develop their own misleading marketing tactics.
Meat companies are spending millions on marketing their products as
healthy and sustainable - Media Credit: Plant Based News / Generated
with AI in Dale-3
Sustainability NGO Changing Markets Foundation has analyzed the
tactics used by 22 big meat and dairy companies to avoid taking
climate action. Among the “delay, distract, and derail” strategies
employed are significant efforts to target Gen Z (those aged between
18 and 29) with “misleading advertising campaigns” through social
media. This is because younger people are more likely to be worried
about the climate crisis and their health.
The analysis is just the latest to show that the meat and dairy
industry is borrowing straight from the “playbook” of Big Oil and
Big Tobacco to protect its business. In March, the Freedom Food
Alliance published a report on how meat and dairy companies use
misinformation and disinformation to shape public opinion and
influence policies. A 2021 study showed that all 10 US meat and
dairy companies it looked at had tried to undermine climate
policies.
Marketing instead of solutions
Big meat and dairy is more concerned with appearing to be healthy
and climate-friendly than with actually transitioning to more
sustainable practices, according to the report. Changing Markets
found that companies spend on average one percent of their revenues
on research and development (R&D) across all areas. This means they
are spending even less than that on researching sustainability.
Data on such spending wasn’t available for all companies. But of
those that did publish spending data, Fonterra, Nestlé, and Arla all
put more money into advertising than into R&D. JBS, which has an
annual revenue of USD $69 billion, was the only company to detail
its spending on specific climate-related R&D. Its investment in its
apparent efforts to reach net zero emissions equates to $20 million
a year, compared to its $319 million annual advertising and
marketing budget.
Along with political lobbying, this PR drive has been helping the
meat and dairy industry to shape environmental policies and
regulations in its favor.
Distracting PR
The greenwashing and misleading advertising used by meat and dairy
companies helps to distract people from their lack of climate
action, according to the Changing Markets report. They use
influencers and social media marketing to “present a natural,
climate-friendly, healthy image of their products.”
In one example provided, Dairy Farmers of America launched a social
media and digital campaign in 2022 to “showcase” dairy as
sustainable and helping to “protect the planet.” It collaborated
with YouTuber Sean Evans, host of a show called the Hot Ones, which
has 12.8 million subscribers. Evans promoted “pro-milk facts” and
invited people to compete in a special level of Minecraft with a
dairy farm theme.
Another campaign from Dairy Management Inc which featured YouTuber
Mr Beast to promote dairy was partly produced by PR company Edelman.
Having worked on major campaigns with the fossil fuel and tobacco
industries, Edelman boasts on its website that it has helped to
reduce “purchase intent” for plant-based dairy alternatives by six
percent.
The meat and dairy industry is going to such lengths to boost its
reputation among younger audiences because they are increasingly
turning their backs on animal products. Among Gen Z, 65 percent want
to eat more plant-based and 79 percent go meat-free one day a week.
They are also buying less milk than the average consumer, according
to Changing Markets.
Greenwashing crackdown
Some regulators and lawmakers have begun cracking down on corporate
greenwashing and have begun reining in meat and dairy marketing.
The UK and EU have begun fining companies for making misleading
green claims about their products. The Irish dairy industry has just
been ordered for the second time recently to remove an ad making
unsubstantiated claims about milk’s sustainability. In the US, New
York State is suing JBS for saying it will reach net zero emissions
while also planning to expand its beef production.