Katjes said WHAT?!

Figure 1: Graphic, complaining about the new Katjes commercial, translations included by Julia Thielert (peasantry Diekholz, 2019).

Just put the name Katjes into Google, and you will find multitudes of articles discussing their latest commercial, which led to an open complaint from the Farmers´ Association to the Advertising Council in Germany.

And all this fuss because of a 20-second long commercial? Yes! (Fig.1)

In response, Katjes released an official statement stating they wanted to show a more realistic picture of the dairy industry, which is usually depicted in an overly romantic way. (1)

Here it is!

If you don´t understand German, you can use the subtitle function in YouTube to view the ad.

But is it truly unjustified to refer to the modern dairy cow as “milk machine”? Is it really such a big lie, as the Farmers' Association is claiming (Fig. 1), that it justifies prohibiting the commercial all together?

After the second world war, many economic sectors were mechanised to work as efficiently as possible, including agriculture. The 25 cows farm became rare. Most of them stocked up to at least 200 cows or were priced out of the market. Cows stopped being milked by hand in favour machines like the "20th swing-over side-by-side” which can milk 20 cows at once. Every cow wears a collar with a chip and is given a carefully calculated amount of concentrated feed, by a computer-controlled feeder. A computer-generated voice alerts the farmer if the cow is not producing enough milk. For example, "150 slow" means that the cow number 150 has a slow milk yield. If this alert sounds too often, this could be the death sentence for cow number 150. (2)

But it’s not just the production tools that have changed.

Figure 2: Dairy cow in a loose-housing barn (Compassion in World Farming, 2019).

The cows, themselves, have become 10-20 centimetres bigger over time, and no matter how much they are fed, they are unable to produce fat depots. The result is skinny, bony cows (Fig. 2) who use every ounce of sustenance to produce milk. Traditionally, 5,000 litres of dairy per year was considered a good yield for a cow; today, 15,000 to 30,000 litres are common. (3)

An outdated means of production has been replaced by a more efficient one

“…where there is conflict between productivity and the interests of the animals, the animals have had to pay the price. They now typically get less space per individual than they did previously, and many live in barren environments that do not allow them to exercise their normal behavior, while genetic selection has been accompanied by increased problems with production-related diseases.” (4)

Modern dairy commercials depict farming as it was almost 100 years ago. They never show cows in tie-stall housing systems (27% of German cows are living in these conditions), or in loose-housing barns (reflecting 72% of German cows) (Fig.2). Only 42% of the German cows will see a pasture for a few months a year, yet this is the aspect depicted in every commercial. (5)

The modern dairy cow is genetically bred by humans, to optimize high milk yields, supporting the argument that likens modern cows to milk machines.

Nature wouldn´t have created an animal like this, as since Darwin, we know about the survival of the fittest. So, you could argue that the modern cow is like a machine designed by human-beings and like a machine highly optimized for one specific cause. That is why this comparison is not made the first time. (2,3)

Traditionally a machine is defined as a technical device (6), but colloquially the word can be used to represent efficiency, for example, “acts like a machine, being particularly efficient”. (7) Though a cow is a sentient living being, the modern dairy cow is designed by humans to be very efficient in milk yield. In this sense, the word “milk machine” makes sense.

Figure 3: Milka commercial (Big Pictures, 2016).

In this day and age, with many people living in cities and children believing that purple cows graze on green mountains, it is essential to show that there is also another side to this story, so that people can make well-informed decisions. (Fig. 3)

Please sign this petition, so Katjes can air their commercial and raise awareness!

Word count: 732 words

References

1. Meedia (2019) “Einseitig und überzogen”: Werberat fordert Katjes zu Stellungnahme wegen umstrittenem Werbespot auf [“Unilaterally and overdrawn”: Advertising Council demands a statement from Katjes about controversial commercial]. Available at: https://meedia.de/2019/10/22/einseitig-und-ueberzogen-werberat-fordert-katjes-zu-stellungnahme-wegen-umstrittenem-werbespot-auf/. [Accessed 25 October 2019].

2. Busse, T. (2009) Die Milchmaschine [The milk machine], Zeit Online. Available at: https://www.zeit.de/2016/26/landwirtschaft-milchbauern-kuehe-produktion [Accessed 28 October 2019].

3. Stern (2016) Von der Weidekuh zur Hochleistungsmilchmaschine [From a grazing cow to a high-performance machine]. Available at: https://www.stern.de/wirtschaft/von-der-weidekuh-zur-hochleistungskuh---in-nur-100-jahren-6926694.html. [Accessed 26 October 2019].

4. Sandøe, P. and Christiansen, S.B. (2008) Ethics of Animal Use. Copenhagen: Blackwell Publishing.

5. Deutscher Tierschutzbund E.V. (2019) Milchkühe [Dairy Cows]. Available at: https://www.tierschutzbund.de/information/hintergrund/landwirtschaft/rinder/milchkuehe/. [Accessed 26 October 2019].

6. Collins (2019) Definition of 'machine'. Available at: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/machine. [Accessed 26 October 2019].

7. Wikitionary (2019) Noun machine 5. Available at: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/machine. [Accessed 26 October 2019].