Interview: Inside the Foie Gras

This anti-foie gras PSA campaign [2nd image here] by the Duval Guillaume agency was rejected by the Belgian railroad as being "too shocking." Agency spokesman Matthias Dubois gave The Spunker the inside story. But first, what's foie gras?

Matthias Dubois: Foie gras - or “fatty liver” - is still a very popular Christmas and year end dinner dish in Belgium. Because most people don’t know it’s made from the grotesquely enlarged livers of ducks and geese, the result of force-feeding.

TS: Are you going to explore alternate media buys?

MD: We're still figuring it out. Now the tube stations in Brussels have refused the campaign, but we're looking at alternatives.

TS: Any in particular?

MD: Yup, some progressive newspapers offered big reductions. In Belgium we have a network of postcards that are freely distributed in in bars and restaurants, they offer media space for free, so there's still hope.

TS: And of course, play to be had from leveraging the railroad's rejection. Knowing their position, did you at all anticipate this reaction?

MD: No, we were in the naive assumption that they would see that the campaign isn't shocking at all. If you look at the peta campaigns and other campaigns on this theme, this one is very soft. That was one of the briefing elements at the start, we wanted to avoid that people would react "hey, another cheap bloody shocking campaign of an animal rights group." -The Spunker.

There you have it. Gimp gear you could see on Catwoman or Aeon Flux is more shocking than animal cruelty. Not that we're big geese huggers, engorged duck liver just sounds gross - as does lily-livered censorship. Note: interview conducted via email and tweaked for palatability.

Comments

[Ben Popken]

I love steak and catfish. Animal rights activism is usually boring. This one was interesting for the response it provoked. Also too that it didn't go for such a gut-punching, agit-prop scream style as favored by most of these PSA's. If you can make a duck in a bondage suit just a little touching and soft you deserve some kudos.

[Bob]

I happen to love foie gras. Yummy stuff. I also enjoy fish that have had their palates pierced by sharp hooks and chicken that have lived in tiny cages wallowing in feces for months (although I do wash it thoroughly first). So kill me for being carnivoris. By the way, for those pro-choice eaters out there, here's a cool site:

https://www.dartagnan.com/item.asp?item=FDUFG111