Lawsuit says dairy ads portray bovine growth hormone rbST as a six-eyed monster

Rick Barrett | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Arla Foods, a Europe-based cheesemaker with a plant in the Fox Valley, has been sued over a $30 million advertising campaign that — the plaintiff says — casts bovine growth hormone rbST in an unfavorable light.

In a lawsuit filed recently in U.S. District Court in Green Bay, Eli Lilly Elanco US of Indianapolis alleges that Arla’s campaign perpetuates false claims that rbST — which promotes milk production in cows — is dangerous.

Elanco markets rbST — recombinant bovine somatotropin — under the brand name Posilac. In its complaint, Elanco seeks an “immediate stop to a false and disparaging advertising campaign” by Arla Foods Inc. USA, based in New Jersey.

“Arla’s assault on rbST’s safety is anything but subtle. In the 30-second television commercial that is the centerpiece of the campaign, Arla depicts rbST as an enormous, six-eyed monster with razor-sharp horns and electrified fur,” the lawsuit says.

“Arla reinforces the core message, that rbST is dangerous, through an extensive, internet-based social media campaign that amplifies and repeats the commercial’s key images and messages,” the suit says.

Arla says it is the fourth-largest dairy company in the world. In Wisconsin, it has a cheese plant in Kaukauna, near Appleton, that makes havarti, Gouda, Muenster and fontina products.

Based on European standards, the company says, its 12,500 farmers worldwide do not treat their cows with rbST to increase milk production.

“The cows do just fine on their own,” Arla says on its website.

Yet the company took things a bit further when it developed the ad campaign based on what children thought of rbST and two food ingredients used in some competitors’ dairy products.

“The campaign asked kids what — or who — they thought rbST, xanthan and sorbic acid were, without letting them know that they were ingredients often found in sliced and creamed cheeses. The kids were partnered with animators who brought their fantastical stories and drawings to life in two 30-second commercials,” Arla said.

VIDEO: See the kids behind the ads

The campaign, launched in April, is slotted for national cable networks and is supported by digital and social media. A premiere event, including a behind-the-scenes documentary, was held at the Village East Cinema in New York.

“The $30 million campaign coincides with Arla’s rapid and bold expansion into the U.S. grocery retail dairy aisle and comes at a tipping point of Americans increasingly voracious desire to know more about the products they’re eating and feeding their families,” the company said. “Our new Live Unprocessed campaign is designed to highlight the benefits of Arla products in a fresh, fun, disruptive way that we think will resonate with today’s ingredient savvy consumer.”

The advertisements have a disclaimer that says no significant difference has been shown in milk from cows treated with rbST.

But rbST is controversial with many consumers, and Arla says it wants people to know that its milk doesn’t come from cows treated with the growth hormone.

The 136-year-old dairy cooperative says it’s one of the world’s largest producers of organic milk.

“We feel people have a right to know how the products they’re buying are produced. … We feel the more simple things are, the better they are and the better they taste,” said Don Stohrer Jr., CEO of Arla Foods USA.

The ads can be found on the company’s website, YouTube and Facebook page. Minneapolis-based Carmichael Lynch and Carmichael Lynch Relate created the campaign.

Elanco says the ads depicting rbST as “weird stuff” and a six-eyed monster “intentionally frighten and mislead consumers" in an attempt to gain a competitive advantage.

“The campaign is built upon a child’s interpretation of what rbST is, and then brings that perception to life as an animated, six-eyed monster with razor sharp horns and electrified fur,” Elanco said in a statement provided to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of recombinant bovine somatotropin in 1993.

“For more than 20 years, rbST has been used to help cows increase milk production without changing the safety and quality of the dairy products we consume,” Elanco said.

“As one of the most researched animal products ever to be approved by the FDA, rbST and dairy products made with milk from rbST-treated cows have been deemed safe by scientific authorities and regulators in more than 50 countries across the globe, including the World Health Organization,” the company said.

Elanco says the ad campaign has already hurt its Posilac business.

"At least one major U.S. cheese producer, reacting to Arla's campaign of disparagement, has announced that it will soon cease use of milk from cows supplemented with Posilac for fear of consumer rejection or backlash," the company said.