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From the early 20th century to as late as the 1980s,
educational film reels were shown in classrooms,
universities, libraries, clubs and organizations.
Topics ranged from good hygiene and manners
to how to navigate new technological innovations and food.
These films were made by a wide variety of groups
including federal departments, universities,
and even companies.
When it came to food, these films helped play a role
in solidifying animal products
as a necessary part of the American diet.
Number one, "Eat for Health".
The 1954 film "Eat for Health" follows Ralph,
a young boy who has low energy like the rest of his family
because he's not eating from the five food groups.
- [Film Narrator] Five fingers that point the way to health.
What was it now?
Bread and butter or margarine, milk and cheese,
meat and eggs, vegetables, and fruits.
- [Narrator] It was produced by Encyclopedia Britannica Film
in collaboration with Dr. James R. Wilson,
Secretary of the Council on Foods and Nutrition
at the American Medical Association.
The educational film implies that drinking cow's milk
will make you strong and healthy,
and when Ralph thinks of milk
he thinks of the tallest children in class.
According to the narrator,
it's milk that gives Ralph's classmate Linda
her pretty smile.
- [Film Narrator] Vitamin D milk
helps build strong bones and teeth,
and Ralph has decided that it must be lots of milk
which has given Linda such a bright smile.
- [Narrator] And people should be drinking a quart a day
to get Vitamin D.
What the video doesn't say
is that cow's milk is fortified with Vitamin D.
It's not naturally occurring.
These days, many brands of plant-based milk
are fortified with Vitamin D as well,
but "Eat for Health" positions milk as an essential food.
It isn't too different from the Got Milk? campaigns
that kicked off in the 1990s.
When it comes to meat,
Ralph thinks of the strongest boy in class.
- [Film Narrator] And Ralph thinks of George right away,
'cause he's the huskiest and the strongest boy in class.
Meat and eggs help the body grow and make us strong.
- [Narrator] While it addresses
that fruits and vegetables are good for you,
the video leaves out plant-based sources of protein
that would have been available at most grocery stores,
like lentils and beans.
Today we have even more options like tofu, tempeh,
and plant-based meat substitutes from different brands.
We also know that eggs raise cholesterol levels,
and diets heavy in red meat can lead to health issues
like high blood pressure, heart disease, type two diabetes,
and a higher risk of certain forms of cancer.
There are other factors that made meat become a staple
of every household, like stigmas against not being wealthy.
Up until the consumerism boom of the 18th century,
red meat was considered a luxury afforded
only by the upper class.
Poor and middle-class families
subsisted on what they could afford:
potatoes, milk, cheese, grains, and seasonal vegetables.
Meat became a symbol of wealth,
so when it became more available
to people from different economic backgrounds,
it was seen as a class equalizer.
Number two, "Meats with Approval".
This film from 1946,
made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
goes over how meat is made, from the farms to inspection.
It was created under the supervision
of several meat inspection divisions.
The film opens in the late Victorian era
with a doctor making a house call
to a home where someone got sick
from eating contaminated meat.
Thanks to Journalist Upton Sinclair's
1906 novel "The Jungle" about the conditions immigrants
working in Chicago's meat industry faced,
the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 was passed
providing new guidelines.
But the video takes a cold approach
to the animal lives involved in the industry,
showing footage of recently slaughtered cattle
hanging by their feet on the carcass line.
The video contrasts it with language that spins meat
as a wholesome product.
The end product's stamped
with a little purple circle of wholesomeness.
- [Film Narrator] The stamp of wholesomeness,
backed by the assurance of Uncle Sam himself,
this same careful supervision
by the inspectors of smoked meats,
extends to all kinds of processed meats.
Sausage, for example,
gets a lot of attention from the government men
beginning with the ingredients of pork or beef
and the spices used in it, and continuing right down
to the moment the sausage is packed for marketing.
- [Narrator] Inspectors are treated
as guardians of integrity, even going so far
as to inspect the clothing of people working on the floor.
Filmed in 1946 when factory farming was in its infancy,
it helped solidify the idea
of slaughtering animals for meat as a wholesome job.
- [Film Narrator] True,
your government goes to great lengths
to see that the meat we eat is good and pure.
- [Narrator] It's entirely possible videos like this
have played a role in how we see the meat industry today.
Federal meat inspectors exist to this day,
but according to a former
Food Safety and Inspection Services employee,
today's inspection agency is rife with internal corruption,
mismanagement, low morale,
and undisguised conflicts of interest.
Major meat producers like Cargill, Tyson,
Smithfield and JBS are often given a pass.
Inspectors are often deterred
from halting lines to inspect meat.
It can slow production and may even threaten their job.
The Humane Slaughter Act,
which requires animals to be stunned before being killed,
is frequently broken.
Fewer than 10% of inspector issues
go to Food Safety and Inspection Services,
and instead must go through the plant's
bureaucratic chain of command.
Number three, Got Milk?
Got Milk? is an advertising campaign
created by the California Milk Board
and advertising agency Goodby Silverstein and Partners.
The original ad, titled "Aaron Burr"
directed by filmmaker Michael Bay,
was released on October 29, 1993.
In it Actor Sean Whalen plays a history buff
who is unable to answer the question
who shot Alexander Hamilton in that famous duel
for the prize of $10,000 in a radio call-in contest.
Unfortunately for him, he just ate peanut butter
and is out of milk.
The now famous ad was praised by Reader's Digest,
Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, and Fast Company.
It was only the beginning for the Got Milk? campaign.
In 1995, Got Milk? ran a series of print ads
featuring celebrities, cartoon, and video game characters
proudly wearing a milk mustache.
Since launching, print ads have starred several athletes
including baseball player Mark McGwire,
skateboarder Tony Hawk, wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin,
basketball player Dennis Rodman,
figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi,
and soccer legend David Beckham.
It also featured cultural icons of the time,
including the Hanson brothers, Britney Spears,
The Backstreet Boys, Jonathan Taylor Thomas,
and Naomi Campbell,
as well as Nintendo's Mario, The Simpsons,
The Rugrats, and Batman.
Some people featured in the ads have since ditched milk,
including singer Miley Cyrus
and tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams.
Modern milk ads still imply
that milk makes superior athletes,
and many of them target children.
In a 2014 ad, a girl is visited by her future self.
- You're me?
- [Narrator] She urges her younger self to drink milk,
and when she does the older version transforms
into a professional runner.
In an ad uploaded to the Got Milk?
YouTube channel last September,
a boy knocks a UFO out of the air with a baseball
because he drank milk.
In a 2018 ad, a group of kids lament over their problems
which are made a little less worse thanks to dairy milk.
- And I got tricked into trading my PB and J
for a vegan brownie.
Let that sink in.
- [Narrator] Got Milk? is also turning its attention
to dispelling rumors about dairy milk
in response to the rising consumer preference
for plant-based milk.
In a Schoolhouse Rock style animated video
titled "Know the Facts", a child asks a carton of milk
why someone bought almond milk instead of him.
The next few minutes show vignettes
featuring the singing carton of milk
explaining that rumors about dairy milk
spread quickly through the internet,
while truth backed up with evidence is ignored.
The video goes on to blame actual trolls,
a stand-in for the media,
and Satan himself for the decline of dairy milk sales.
In the video's entire 4 1/2 minutes,
there are several references
to facts in favor of dairy milk,
but none of them are ever presented.
Number four, "This is Hormel".
In the 1964 video "This is Hormel",
two kids write a letter asking to tour the Hormel company.
Founded in 1891, Hormel made a name for itself
selling meat, particularly ham and sausage,
and its shelf-stable Spam.
Like the videos before it,
"This is Hormel" is one part a celebration of automation,
one part a desensitization
to the individual animals used for meat,
and one part a promotion for Hormel products.
The space where whole pig carcasses
are carved into cuts of meat
is referred to as the hog disassembly floor.
There doesn't seem to be any issues
with showing young children where meat comes from.
The video predicts automation
as the future of the meat industry.
- [Film Narrator] So much automation
enters the industrial picture today
that is not surprising to see the start of meat processing
begin in this fashion.
- [Narrator] Ham is so far removed from the pigs' bodies
that calm elevator music plays
while machines carries cuts of meat
from one part of the production to the next,
as well as showing how pigs' bodies were used to make food.
The video also acts as promotional material
for Hormel products, carrying footage of ground up meat
being made into Spam, chili, and sausages to benign music.
The company frames itself and the food it produces
in a positive light.
Number five, "Home on the Range".
Released in 1942, "Home on the Range" is a video
from the USDA and the Office of War Information
about the relationship between the meat industry
and the World War II effort.
According to the video, funding from the range program
made it possible for ranchers to clear land
and provide grass and water to animals.
The government asked many hog and cattle farmers
to increase production during World War II to feed soldiers.
Farmers were considered important to the effort.
Beef and pork were shipped to the allies overseas.
Meat eventually became a war-rationed food
like sugar, cheese, and butter.
It's around this time that food-related propaganda emerged.
This ranged from encouraging Americans
to plant victory gardens to help rations last longer,
to recruiting children to pick crops
and even saving bacon grease to make explosives.
Meat rations were prioritized for soldiers.
According to Lizzie Collingham, author of the book
"Taste of War: World War II and the Battle for Food",
American soldiers were given the best cuts of meat
because it was deemed essential for energy,
virility and masculinity.
This was so prevalent that there was even a committee
to convince Americans to eat more organ meat
so soldiers could have higher quality beef and pork.
The video also makes it clear
that the best meat was for soldiers
in order to help the country...
- [Film Narrator] To slam the heil out of Hitler.
(dramatic music)
You and I won't mind for awhile
to pass up a sizzling steak now and then
in favor of sending plenty of good red meat
to the lads in the tanks.
- [Narrator] The war changed the American diet.
World War II helped bring the country
out of the Great Depression.
Once the war was over,
Americans had a taste for eating more food,
particularly meat.
According to Collingham, eating good food and lots of it
was the way that America indicated its power,
and this stayed in the pysche.
Number six, "The Chicken of Tomorrow".
Made in 1948, "The Chicken of Tomorrow"
walks through a call to action for mid-century scientists
to breed a chicken whose body produces more meat.
The video refers to the birds
as the most widely-grown farm product.
Erasing their individuality,
poultry was seen as a big moneymaker for farmers
and companies looking for additional ways
to maximize profit.
Although the video isn't graphic,
it takes a cold approach to the mass production of chicks
shipped from hatching facilities without food or water
to start their lives as egg-laying hens.
It's not so different
from the way the egg industry is today.
Female chicks become egg layers
until their bodies are spent,
and male chicks, seen as useless,
are typically ground up alive.
Although the video says
that range life is good for chickens,
the reality is much less bucolic.
(lively dramatic music)
- [Film Narrator] A hen that lays 210 eggs a year
and eats 70 pounds of feed
is giving you three eggs for every pound you feed her.
- [Narrator] Chickens are framed as moneymakers
for the egg and meat industries,
not respected as individual sentient beings.
The chicken of tomorrow has a bigger body with more meat.
Today's birds have suffered immensely
due to efforts to maximize profit.
According to Mercy for Animals,
the chicken of today is bred to grow large
at such a quick rate
that many birds are immobilized under their own weight.
Because they're too large to stand or walk,
this makes factory farms a breeding ground
for salmonella and fecal contamination.
As a result, the majority of chicken meat
is washed with chlorine of other disinfectants.
Number seven, "This is the Dairy Industry".
The 1957 video "This is the Dairy Industry"
is all about how dairy enriches American middle class life.
It's essentially an infomercial
aimed at recruiting dairy industry workers.
- Why not tie your future to milk?
It's a huge industry and a growing one.
An industry that has expanded tremendously
and with our growing population
is still expanding by leaps and bounds.
- [Narrator] It also pushes milk, cheese,
and butter as essential foods.
According to the video, dairy products represented
nearly 30% of the American diet at the time.
- [Film Narrator] Well put it this way.
Every fourth bite of food the American family eats
represents milk or a product derived from milk.
In fact, nearly 30% of the diet of the American family.
- [Narrator] Products like milk, cheese, and butter
were considered healthful.
Today their high saturated fat and sodium contents
are linked to high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
At the time, it was normal to give cow's milk to babies,
and it was considered a food habit
that stays with you throughout life.
Dairy was also thought to help athletes
build strong healthy bodies,
much like the Got Milk? campaigns of the 1990s.
But today, many athletes who have stopped drinking milk,
like several members of the LA Dodgers,
report improved recovery time and reduced inflammation.
The video also suggests that people depend on milk
even in times of serious illness and that folks need milk.
- And remember this, Tom.
Where the demand for other may fluctuate over the years,
not milk and its products,
because folks need milk every day
as much as, well, almost as much as the oxygen in the air.
- [Narrator] It celebrates automation,
just like so many other videos have at the time,
and how it's allowed for the mass production
not only of milk, butter, and cheese,
but also to develop new products.
The dairy industry is shown as the ideal career
for professional backgrounds of all kinds,
from engineers to scientists
and people working in the food and advertising agencies.
Methods of promoting dairy to increase sales
include tie-in promotions with other food products
to public relations for schoolchildren to indoctrinate them
in a lifelong relationship with dairy products.
(light jazz music)
Bonus: Fast food ads.
Fast food ads are omnipresent in our lives.
You'll see them on television, magazines,
the internet, billboards, public transportation,
and hear them on radio.
Fast food chains have used several advertising tactics
to promote their food,
such as implying that their menu is healthy.
- [Commercial Narrator] It's way better than fast food.
It's Wendy's.
- [Narrator] Many, including Burger King, Arby's,
Carl's Jr. And Hardee's have used sex to sell their food.
KFC recently launched I Love You, Colonel Sanders,
a finger-licking good dating simulator developed by Psyop.
The object of the game is to win over the heart
of a sexified young anime Colonel Sanders
by impressing him with your cooking skills.
Oddly enough, it's not the first time KFC
has used a mixture of sexualization
and a sense of humor to sell fried chicken.
A 2017 ad starring a muscular Colonel Sanders
had a topless oiled man reading a steamy romance novel
to the viewer.
In a 2019 Mother's Day ad...
- Oh, howdy, Mom.
- [Narrator] A thin, muscular Colonel Sanders
dances topless with a group of Chickendales performers.
Catchy slogans are often used by fast food restaurants
to ensure that people remember to spend their money there.
Some examples are...
- Where's the beef?
(McDonald's whistling jingle)
- [Commercial Narrator] Think outside the bun.
(bell dings)
- [Narrator] Those are just a few examples
of vintage animal agriculture industry propaganda
as well as the more recent campaigns.
Have you noticed any other modern examples?
Let us know in the comments below.
As always, remember to subscribe
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New videos every Tuesday and Friday.
(light jazz music)