Closer to nature: the ethics of âgreenâ representations in animal product marketing

S. Borkfelt; S. Kondrup; M. Gjerris

Closer to nature: the ethics of âgreenâ representations in animal product marketing

In: The ethics of consumption

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S. Borkfelt

S. Borkfelt ¹Department of Aesthetics and Communication, Aarhus University, Jens Chr. Skous Vej 4, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark

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S. Kondrup

S. Kondrup ²Institute of Food and Resource Economics, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 25, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark; engsb@hum.au.dk

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M. Gjerris

M. Gjerris ²Institute of Food and Resource Economics, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 25, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark; engsb@hum.au.dk

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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 195â200

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.3920/9789086867844_033

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Empirical cases from the Danish food market are examined in order to critically discuss the respective modes of communication in light of the premises of socially responsible consumer marketing. This analysis suggests that specific marketing instruments are used to sell animal products by blurring the difference between the paradigms of animal welfare used by producers, and the paradigms of animal welfare implicit in the public understanding of the concept. These instruments rely on the ethical, political and sustainable consumption discourses in order to sell one image of animal welfare in intensive animal production while the production at the same time presupposes a quite different paradigm of animal welfare. Two cases are used to illustrate this: (1) the Danish dairy company Arla Foodsâ campaign with the tagline âCloser to natureâ; and (2) selected âquality brandsâ that present themselves as welfare-oriented alternatives to conventionally produced animal products, but with only marginal improvements. The rhetoric of both cases specifically manifests a deep coherence between nature, farm, animal and end product, and thereby creates associations of production tied to lives living in nature â thus attempting to display a green, eco-, climate-, and animal friendly production. The tension between marketing and the idea of ethical consumerism is apparent as the need for independent information to make value-based choices is challenged by the liberal rules of the market and more specifically by the lack of a restrictive food labelling policy. The relationship between the ways in which animal welfare is communicated and emphasized through food marketing, and commonly held perceptions of acceptable standards for animal welfare, is discussed and the need for transparency in the area of animal welfare stressed.

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The ethics of consumption

The citizen, the market, and the law

E-Book ISBN:: 9789086867844

Publisher:: Wageningen Academic

Print Publication Date:: 01 Nov 2013

Subjects
- Life Sciences

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Closer to nature: the ethics of âgreenâ representations in animal product marketing

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The ethics of consumption

The citizen, the market, and the law

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Closer to nature: the ethics of âgreenâ representations in animal product marketing