An Article Series from All-Creatures.org 

 

Animal Rights/Vegan Activists' Strategies

The Story Behind our Mary Had a Little Lamb Ad

From Eden Farmed Animal Sanctuary
March 2023

The ad demonstrated a very powerful juxtaposition between the nursery rhyme and the reality for the lambs who are slaughtered.

Sandra and Mrs Annie...

Mary had a little lamb,
Her fleece was white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go.

This photo of me with Mrs Annie was the inspiration behind our Mary Had a Little Lamb ad (artist Jo Frederiks). Other animals imprint on us and regard us as one of them, especially when they are bottle fed by us in place of their mothers. They implicitly trust us because every young animal needs to trust and stay close to their caregivers to survive.

We betray their trust, utterly, when we view them as food. Every time someone goes into a supermarket, butcher or restaurant, and orders lamb flesh, or into a shop and buys wool, they are paying for a trusting young animal, like Mrs Annie, to be slaughtered.

Our original design was a blend of this photo with a slaughterhouse scene but it was far too close to the bone for us to finish. We couldn't bear as much as the thought of Mrs Annie coming to harm.

Instead, we worked with Jo Frederiks to create this very powerful juxtaposition between the nursery rhyme and the reality for the lambs who are slaughtered. 

---

Return to Animal Rights/Vegan Activist Strategies
Read more at Meat and Dairy Articles