Mumbai: Just days after Amul claimed vindication on its ad that purportedly unravels the facts and myths behind vegan milk as opposed to cow’s milk, the debate seems to have spilled all over the social media, triggering a tweetstorm between Amul MD Sodhi and PETA India. The ad released in March this year by Amul was challenged by three animal rights organisations, one of them being PETA, for disparaging vegan milk as “impersonating or masquerading as a dairy product”, while extolling the virtues of cow’s milk. The petitioners alleged that the contentions made in the advertisement were false.
The ‘Myths vs. Facts’ print campaign, according to Amul, was to “expose the falsity behind myths that were being circulated regarding milk and to call out plant-based beverages terming itself as 'milk'.
The Advertising Standards Council of India (Asci) dismissed the three complaints filed by the organisations — Beauty Without Cruelty, PETA and Sharan India, who had complained against the homegrown dairy giant’s ‘Myths vs. Facts advert which said that plant-based "milk" is not milk. The petitions were filed on 24 March.
Based on the response and evidence provided by Amul, as well as FSSAI guidelines that specifically defined milk as a vegetarian product, the consumer complaints council (CCC) of ASCI examined the issue and concluded that the advertiser had not made any misleading claims in the advertisement.
Following this, Amul India MD Sodhi tweeted the news with his strongly-worded statement, where he is quoted as saying, “Plant-based food companies are encashing the equity of milk. These products are nothing but genetically-modified lab foods that are made out of chemicals and synthetic materials by big corporations and MNCSs, with the only objective of profit making and not livelihood.”
— R S Sodhi (@Rssamul) May 26, 2021
In response, PETA India tweeted “Indian farmers stand to greatly benefit from vegan (which simply means made from plants) foods. Instead of fighting the inevitable vegan national/global trend, @Amul_Coop can start making plant-milk itself like so many dairy & former dairy companies now do.”
It also shared a Forbes article stating how India can lead the Vegan economy against the future pandemics. Vegan milk is an umbrella term referring to various kinds of non-dairy, plant-based 'milks' such as soy, coconut and almond.
However, the country’s largest producer of dairy products was not amused by the suggestion.
"Peta wants Amul to snatch livelihood of 100 mill poor farmers and handover all resources built in 75 years with farmers’ money to market genetically modified Soya of rich MNCs at exorbitant prices, which (the) average lower middle class can't afford," Sodhi tweeted in his rejoinder to the NGO.
Peta wants Amul to snatch livelihood of 100 mill poor farmers and handover it's all resources built in 75 years with farmers money to market genetically modified Soya of rich MNC at exhorbitant prices ,which average lower middle class can't afford https://t.co/FaJmnCAxdO
— R S Sodhi (@Rssamul) May 28, 2021
PETA India, countered citing another FMCG brand’s name which had made the shift, "Unilever is into vegan foods. Why can't Amul?” with a gentle jibe that “Smart businesses respond to trends".
While both parties continued to stick to their respective stands, several netizens clambered onto the tweet-war, expanding the scale of the debate – with each giving their take on it while taking sides.
Some accused PETA of selectively singling out issues, while ignoring other cases where animal abuse is rampant- advising it to focus on saving animals.
Many others criticised Amul for labelling all plant-based beverages as bad. One twitterati tweeted in favour of veganism, accusing the dairy giant of providing employment and making money at the cost of cows and their calves. “Needs & technology continue to evolve for the better all the time. Jobs evolve with it. You are setting your company up for failure by fighting against what is right. #veganism.”
As of now, there seems to be no end in sight to the debate around cow’s milk vs. vegan milk. What's your take on it?
