What is Humane

This chapter discusses a South African supermarket's print advertisement promoting meat consumption for a national public holiday. Meat consumption is portrayed as symbolic of and necessary for cultural belonging, participation and celebration. It is used to maximise profits by maintaining the distance between consumers and the realities of the power and violence perpetrated against the sentient life from which the “culturally” commodified meat product is sourced. National Heritage Day celebrates the demise of South Africa's history of domination, exploitation and discrimination and its bright present and future. The case study however illustrates that the marketing of meat as a cultural commodity reinforces hegemonic control and is contrary to what Heritage Day represents. It indicates a dangerous dissonance that encourages and endorses domination and violence against animals. Whilst the case study focuses on South Africa, hegemonic influence through visual commodification and marketing of meat is apparent in most western societies.