Shocking New Video Explores Food Industry’s Treatment of Animals

Have you seen this video shared on your Facebook feed lately? There’s a good chance that you have, and if you have not watched the clip yet, we can break it down for you. The YouTube video was posted on Upworthy with the title "No One Applauds This Woman Because They're Too Creeped Out At Themselves To Put Their Hands Together."

It starts out by showing a group of people watching a talk on "The secrets of food marketing." A woman who tells the group she is a marketing consultant to the food industry proceeds to explain a few of the tips and tricks she and other food marketers use to get people to buy a company’s product, like changing one cereal from square shape to diamond shape.

Next, the topic turns to meat and animal products. The first lesson, she says, is not to trust a label that says something like "farm fresh" or "100% natural." A picture of a crowded chicken farm is shown, and the eyes of people in the audience widen. Then she shows the audience a few more startling photos that illustrate how the food industry uses cute cartoons and clever photo editing to mask scary notions of where people are getting their food.

In the end, she tells the audience that the industry’s secret weapon is "You" because we all have "willful ignorance." By this point in the video, it becomes evident that this woman is not a consultant at all, but rather she's an actress.

The video was produced by Compassion in World Farming, a European animal welfare charity, whose aim is to bring awareness to the masses about where their food is actually coming from. Given the shocked reactions of the audience combined with more than 3 million views on YouTube, I think they are on the right track.

Now we want your feedback! What did you think of the video and its message?