“Humour Gives Us Permission to Exist in Culture”: PETA and Grey London’s Comedic Relationship

“When I started at PETA 16 years ago, I met a guy and told him I was vegan. He honestly thought that meant I was from Las Vegas,” Elisa Allen told the disbelieving audience of ‘Using Humour As a Trojan Horse For Change’ at SXSW on June 3rd. As PETA’s vice president of programmes, her job of communicating the realities of factory farming, animal testing and wearing fur while encouraging consumers to change their often well-established habits is not an easy one - especially given many people simply don’t want to hear it.

Enter Grey London’s chief creative officer Helen Rhodes and the agency’s tactic of using humour to make people confront the truth in a way that feels more palatable while remaining effective. Elisa explained, “We are not in this to win any popularity contest. Our goal is to open people's eyes to what is happening to animals and to inspire kinder choices. We have learned that asking softly, asking nicely, it often doesn't get you very far. You have to agitate. As uncomfortable as that is sometimes, you have to act agitated because when people respond with laughter, that is so often when conversation starts and that is also often how change begins.”

PETA has certainly never been afraid of courting controversy with their activism and celebrity endorsements showing stars like Gillian Anderson and Alicia Silverstone famously proclaiming they would “rather go naked than wear fur”. Dark and absurdist humour is a perfect match for their message, evidenced by their Octocurse campaign. This advert shows people in a 1970s style sci-fi parody developing the features of an octopus, such as tentacles, beaks and giant heads, as a result of eating these emotional and intelligent creatures. Another striking spot sees a cartoon pig-man hybrid performing a musical number about working at the pig farm surrounded by blood spatters and pig heads in an abattoir.

As Helen said, “Serious messages often get ignored, especially when they come wrapped in guilt and moral pressure. People tend to switch off and scroll past and avoid, but humour does the opposite. It lowers our defences, it manages to get past the brain security system, and so those difficult messages can get in.”

Last November’s campaign ‘Happy Christmassacre’ was able to encapsulate this by showing a typical family tucking into a roast turkey on Christmas Day; as the inane conversation continues, they become more and more spattered with blood from the food they are eating. The accompanying Christmas jumpers made for National Christmas Jumper Day also added a gruesome twist to the clothing item’s classic garishness by using images of dead animals and the implements used to slaughter them. They sold out, despite selling for £75 each.

Helen explained the success of the campaign and the jumpers, “The message really lands, about consumption and tradition and what's really sitting in front of us on the table. I think if this film had started with a more worthy, serious tone, it would have been rejected instantly as too preachy, too guilt inducing. But the humour gives it permission to exist in culture. Don't get us wrong, it still pisses a lot of people off, and it got talked about in the Daily Mail. But I don't think people would have gotten so riled up if it hadn't hit a nerve.”