The Netherlands has banned advertising of meat products and goods linked to fossil fuels
The BBC reports on this.
City politicians say this move is intended to ensure that the appearance of Amsterdam’s streets aligns with the local authorities’ environmental goals. They envisage that the Dutch capital will become carbon neutral by 2050, and that local residents will halve their meat consumption over the same period.
The initiator of the ban is Anke Bakker, head of the Amsterdam branch of the Dutch political party that defends animal rights — the Party for the Animals. She rejects accusations that this is ‘excessive state interference’.
“Everyone can decide for themselves, but in reality we are trying to ensure that big companies don’t constantly tell us what we need to eat and buy. In a sense, we are giving people more freedom. After all, they can make their own choices, can’t they?” says Bakker.
According to her, removing this constant visual pressure will reduce impulse buying and, at the same time, signal that cheap meat and travel with a large carbon footprint are no longer an ‘attractive’ lifestyle.
Meat accounted for a relatively small share of Amsterdam’s outdoor advertising market — approximately 0.1% of advertising expenditure, compared to around 4% for fossil fuel-related products. Instead, advertising was largely dominated by clothing brands, film posters and mobile phones.
However, as the BBC points out, this ban is politically significant. Linking meat with air travel, cruises and petrol and diesel cars shifts perceptions: it is no longer simply a personal dietary choice, but a climate issue.
The Dutch Meat Association is unhappy with this decision and calls it an “undesirable way of influencing consumer behaviour”. It adds that meat “provides essential nutrients and must remain visible and accessible to consumers”.
Meanwhile, the Dutch Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators states that the ban on advertising holidays involving air travel is a disproportionate restriction on companies’ commercial freedom.
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