The Real Truth Behind ALDI’s Truth #25

This is part of our new series, Ad Nauseam– a look at advertising through the ethical vegan lens.

Another company is exploiting an animal in the name of “truth.”

Grocery chain ALDI has a whole line of ads using the word. It makes sense; this marketing tactic is ingrained in everything. It perpetuates the average consumer’s trust in businesses, which makes questioning a product or a company’s plans never cross one’s radar. After all, if you’re being told that there is truth in advertising, it must be a fact, right?

Aldi’s Truth #25: “The same is always better when it costs less.” Take a look.

Not only do we have more manipulative words being thrown around in a commercial about animal products (wholesome), but we put words into a cow’s mouth: “…paying more for it doesn’t make a lot of sense… not even to her!”

Far be it from me to presume what makes sense to a cow, but I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that our taking her baby and then taking her milk doesn’t make a lot of sense, no matter how much a customer is paying.

Here are a few other things I’m guessing don’t make sense to a dairy cow (via Farm Sanctuary):

• cyclical impregnation, birth, and milking
• being slaughtered by the age of five
• the very existence of the veal industry
• milking machines and mastitis
• tail docking (sometimes without anesthesia or pain relieving medication)

I get that we’re in a precarious situation, what with the economy in the state it’s in and everyone working with a dwindling budget. I certainly understand wanting to get the most value for a dollar. But it’s important that we don’t forget the real cost of a product, for our health, for our planet, and for the animals we force to give of themselves. Truth isn’t truth when so much isn’t addressed; it’s more a lie of omission.

For another example of “truth,” aka greenwashing, in advertising dairy products, check out our recent look at Chobani’s “Go Real” campaign.

Photo credit: roswellsgirl via Flickr