Miyoko’s Creamery Tells Dairy Lovers ‘Milk Plants, Hug Cows’ With Giant Times Square Billboards

Vegan dairy brand Miyoko’s Creamery recently unveiled giant billboards all over Times Square featuring the slogan ‘Milk Plants, Hug Cows’ as the alt cheese & butter category leader aims to raise awareness amongst New Yorkers about cruelty-free dairy and and to encourage city dwellers to try plant-based dairy alternatives in order to protect the planet.

California- based Miyoko’s Creamery produces dairy-free products including plant-based artisanal cheese wheels, butter, mozzarella, cream cheese and spreads, which are made using traditional cheesemaking cultures and processes using plant-based ingredients like cashews, oats and chickpea flour.

Founded by Miyoko Schinner in 2014, the startup wants to reach more audiences and drive the plant-based movement across the country. For this purpose, it installed three giant electronic billboards in the iconic Time Square, New York that features Schinner in a field of cows and reads: ‘Milk Plants, Hug Cows’, with another one starting ‘Change your cheese’, to make New Yorkers ditch dairy and adopt a plant-based diet.

In an interview with PBN, Schinner said: “Miyoko’s Creamery is about changing the way we think about the food we eat and the impact of our food system. So, when the opportunity presented itself to get our message in Times Square, we had to go for it. Milk Plants, Hug Cows – just four little words illustrated alongside the photo of a woman hugging a cow – this message gets the public to view animals differently.”

Animals aren’t food – they are living beings. Milk Plants, Hug Cows – just four little words illustrated alongside the photo of a woman hugging a cow – this message gets the public to view animals differently

Miyoko Schinner, founder and CEO, Miyoko’s Creamery

Schinner added: “Animals aren’t food – they are living beings. We want to create that mind shift so that we can save the planet and ourselves – together. Small actions like changing your cheese help to change the world.”

This is Miyoko’s Creamery largest advertisement to date and the company predicts that it will reach 50,000 people every day. The billboards, which were installed on May 3, will remain in Times Square until June 27.

Last year, Miyoko’s Creamery made headlines after winning a legal battle where it was accused of using misleading terms like “butter” for its plant-based offerings. Not only was the upstart given the green light to continue using these terms, it is also allowed to use “cruelty-free” and “lactose-free” in their labelling.

Apart from this, back in September of last year, the firm’s vegan cashew-based cream cheese was tested by Starbucks for a possible menu inclusion, as the coffee giant looks to increase its plant-based offerings.

In similar news, European plant-based meat maker Heura, who was taken to court by the Spanish meat industry for its controversial “one beef burger pollutes more than your car” billboard advert won their legal battle, with the case rejected by a Barcelona court, who said in their ruling that the words were based on scientific evidence and were used to educate consumers about the truth behind consuming meat.

Lead image courtesy of PBN.