PETA’s Twisted Cartoon Musical Confronts Bacon Lovers

Consumers may not like to think about where their bacon comes from, but the People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals (PETA) forces viewers to confront the realities of factory farming by blending cute animation and a catchy tune with grotesque images.

Agency Grey London and production company Biscuit made the animated film, Pig Farm, which shows a farmer explaining his job to his young daughters as they dig into a breakfast of sausage and bacon.

Drawing inspiration from the surreal animations found in the hit video game Cuphead and the 1990s series The Ren & Stimpy Show, the ad juxtaposes images of smiling pigs and a quaint farm with conveyor belts where they’re slaughtered. The twisted protagonist even mocks protestors, insisting that they should just have some bacon.

Jeff Low directed the commercial and wrote its disturbingly upbeat song, with the chorus: “Pig farm, it’s where you get bacon from. You don’t have to think about it.”

The dark story ends with the sound of pigs squealing and the message: “All bacon comes from suffering and violence!”

“PETA’s goal is to challenge the status quo and make people think, and the innovative team at Grey has achieved that with this shareable video,” PETA UK, Europe and Australia vice president Mimi Bekhechi, said in a statement. “By pairing disturbing cartoon imagery with a catchy song, we believe the memorable spot will shift attitudes and remind people that every piece of bacon was once a thinking, feeling being who desperately wanted to live.”

The film will run across PETA’s global owned channels, with out-of-home support.

The organization is also using the cartoon visuals on a calendar that only runs for six months–the duration most pigs live before they’re slaughtered–and on a limited-edition crockery set.

“Pig Farm” follows other recent PETA ads that used nostalgia to convey an unsettling message. Last year, the charity and agency House 337 released a parody of 1980s and ‘90s kids puppet shows starring comedian, actress and author, Jessie Cave. And in 2022, in another ad by Grey London, it launched a petition to close a commercial octopus farm through a parody of a 1970s science-fiction series.

CREDITS

Client: PETA
VP: Elisa Allen
Celebrity and creative projects lead: Iona Kirby

Agency: Grey London
Managing director: Jonny Tennant-Price
ECD: David Wigglesworth
CSO: Tarek Sioufi
Creative: Cameron Sutherland, Mel Shergold, Joanna Simpson-Howe
Head of production: Maxine Hose
Senior producer: Ant Borkett
Head of design: Liam Thomas
Designers: Jo Wahono, Stefan Klasener, Tanmayee Ingale, Felix Townsend, Tyrone Zall
Editor/Titles: Ollie Flux
New business director: Katherine Goodale

Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks
Director: Jeff Low
Producer: Kwok Yau
Managing director/executive producer: Rupert Reynolds-Maclean
Executive producer: Hanna Bayatti
Head of production: Emily Atterton
Animator: Andrei Sopon
Animator: Reuben Sutherland

Sound Studio: Factory Studios
Sound design and mix: Jon Clarke
Senior audio producer: Ciara Wakley
Music supervision: Wake the Town