Bulls Beaten, Bloodied & Forced to Haul Overloaded Carts for Pepsi Sugar — PETA India Campaign Targets Gen Z
With Pepsi in India focusing heavily on marketing to Gen Z, PETA India is displaying messages reading “Pepsi: Cut the Bull! Nobody Wants a Spiked Drink. STOP using SPIKES and other TORTURE DEVICES to FORCE BULLS to HAUL sugarcane” outside colleges and institutes in Chennai, Delhi, and Kolkata. PETA India aims to motivate Gen Z, a generation known for its concern for animals, to urge the soft drink giant to stop violating its own animal welfare policy by sourcing sugar via partners and suppliers for which bulls are beaten, whipped, and forced to haul heavy loads of sugarcane.
The bull in the inset is forced to haul heavy loads using a spiked yoke device fitted on the sides that restricts the bull’s movement, causes painful wounds and bleeding on the neck. Credit: Animal Rahat
The company’s Indian bottling partner obtains sugar from regions where bulls are beaten with sticks and whips as they struggle to carry carts illegally overloaded with as much as four tonnes of sugarcane. Not only does such gruelling labour cause painful abscesses and muscle tears, but many animals suffer bloody wounds from the barbed-wire spikes that tear into their faces if they “disobey” by turning their heads.
The billboard is located at Tank Bund Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai, Greater Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600034
The billboard is located at Hindu College Sudhir Bose Marg, University Enclave, North Campus, New Delhi, 110007
The billboard is located at Jadavpur University Gate No. 4, Near Pordha Nagar Park, Poddar Nagar, Jadavpur, Kolkata, West Bengal 700032
Animal Rahat, an India-based animal protection charity, has worked since 2011 to replace bullock-driven carts with more efficient and cost-effective mechanised alternatives through its Sugarcane Industry Mechanisation Project. Through the project’s influence, one-third of Maharashtra’s sugar production has been mechanised. A single tractor is capable of transporting up to 18 tonnes of sugar per trip, providing owners with improved income opportunities.
Bulls are highly social animals who, given the chance, form long-lasting, cooperative relationships with their fellow herd members. PETA India encourages everyone to help spare bulls a lifetime of suffering by urging PepsiCo to require its partners and suppliers to switch to humane and modern eco-tractors.
Billboards with the message “Pepsi: All Fizz No Heart. Stop cruelty to animals for sugar” were also placed outside PepsiCo’s Headquarters in Gurgaon and PepsiCo’s Global Business Services (GBS) office in Hyderabad earlier this year.
