Natural, enjoyable, and Finnish: Social representations of eating meat in Finnish meat product advertisements

Abstract

In this study, we examine how meat product advertisements shape the image of meat-eating at a time when alternatives to meat-eating are increasingly being discussed in many Western countries. Drawing on social representations theory, multimodal analysis, and deconstructive reading, we explore how certain meanings are attached to meat-eating while others are put aside. The research material consisted of 65 advertisement videos published by the two largest Finnish meat product companies between 2013 and 2021. We identified naturalness, enjoyment, and Finnishness as the main concepts used to promote meat consumption. The social representations in the advertisements were constituted by three embedded themata namely, edible/inedible, human/animal, and us/them, structuring everyday conceptions regarding meat-eating. Theoretically we seek to show how the advertisements participate in dialogical negotiation on socially salient topics in present-day societies and contribute to the construction of social representations.

Moral foundations and future pro‐environmental lifestyles choices in the Finnish population

“…This is in line with studies showing that in Western cultures, ethical considerations in veganism relating to animals (avoiding harm and suffering, emphasizing justice and equality; Ruby, Heine, Kamble, Cheng, & Waddar, 2013) are part of similar considerations focusing on humans. In addition, a strong negative association between binding moral foundations and veganism is in line with studies showing that meat eating is seen as traditional and normative in Finland and in other Western countries (Häkli & Hakoköngäs, 2022;Salmivaara et al, 2022).…”

“…Are there cultural changes taking place in terms of meat‐eating/plant‐based eating? It is known that at least in advertisements meat‐eating has been described as natural and traditional in Finland (Häkli & Hakoköngäs, 2022), but there are different voices questioning this representation (Laakso, Niva, Eranti, & Aapio, 2021). How and how much these different views can affect general opinion and social norms?…”

“…Furthermore, valuing religion and purity is compatible with choices that are perceived as ‘natural’; for example, genetically modified foods may be perceived as unnatural and unethical (Royzman, Cusimano, Metas, & Leeman, 2020). A qualitative study on Finnish meat‐product advertisements (Häkli & Hakoköngäs, 2022) showed that meat eating was represented as natural, enjoyable and as a part of traditional Finnish lifestyle. In addition, an interview study on vegans and vegetarians representing different nationalities (Salmivaara, Niva, Silfver, & Vainio, 2022) showed that the interviewees' elderly relatives often saw meat eating as normal and traditional, which caused tensions in social situations.…”

Original sin or natural order: Dialogical construction of social knowledge of animal production

“…However, this change has not reduced the importance of food‐related choices for individual and group identities but even contributed to a distinction between ‘I’ and ‘the other’ and ‘we’ and ‘the others’ (O'Neill, 2019, Schwartz, 2020). As Häkli and Hakoköngäs (2022) have recently noted, Finnish society has witnessed numerous public debates on meat consumption over the past decade. Although the emergence of these debates highlights the polemic nature of food of animal origin, there is a lack of empirical research analysing how the debates emerge and how animal production is made sense of in these discussions.…”

“…The tension arises from the mutual interdependence of ego-alter in relation to the object. For example, Häkli and Hakoköngäs (2022) have argued in their study on social representations of meat-eating that for meat-eaters (ego) to define the meat-eating (object), non-meat-eaters (alter) must also be defined. That is, what is meat-eating in relation to not eating meat.…”