WAMU 88.5 Responds to Our Request to Remove Ads for Nellie’s Eggs!
In June, we posted an internet alert asking people to politely inform WAMU 88.5 – Washington, DC’s NPR station – that they objected to the station’s promotion of Nellie’s Eggs. Contrary to claims by Pete and Gerry’s Organics, the owner of Nellie’s Eggs, their hens are NOT treated humanely, they are not “free-range,” and a public radio station should not engage in commercial advertising. We asked WAMU to stop promoting Nellie’s Eggs, and they listened!
WAMU 88.5’s Response:
“Thank you for this feedback regarding Nellie’s Free Range Eggs. Your voice is critically important to WAMU and we take feedback seriously as an institution. WAMU evaluates all corporate sponsor messaging closely before it airs to ensure it meets our messaging guidelines. However, we greatly value listener feedback and at times may reverse our decisions on the content we elect to air on behalf of our sponsors. We have reassessed the Nellie’s Free Range Eggs messages and have elected to suspend the campaign at this time.” – Allison Kennedy, Senior Manager, Audience Engagement, July 3, 2019
We thank everyone who took action on behalf of the hens who are falsely portrayed by Pete and Gerry’s Organics as enjoying “humane practices” and being “loved.” If Nellie’s Eggs are advertised on your local NPR Radio station, politely ask the station to remove these ads and post your objection on the station’s Facebook page.
UPC’s Letter to WAMU 88.5 on June 26, 2019:
Dear WAMU 88.5:
On behalf of United Poultry Concerns, I am writing to express our objection to your promotion of Nellie’s “Free-Range” Eggs. More than just naming Nellie’s as a sponsor, you are advertising for Nellie’s Eggs, the brand name for Pete and Gerry’s Organics, which is currently being sued by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for false advertising.
WAMU 88.5 is supposed to be noncommercial. That, plus the fact that Nellie’s hens do not live the life portrayed in their advertising, is disturbing. A Certified Humane label does not mean that the hens have good lives. Nellie’s does not disclose the part about the factory-farm hatcheries, the destruction of the male chicks at birth, the painful debeaking of the hens, the culling of hens who aren’t laying enough eggs for profit, the factory-farm sheds, the minimal or nonexistent “range,” the brutal catching crews, and the slaughter or gassing of the hens after a year of laying an abnormal number of eggs for retail.
We want more of public radio than a double standard where chickens and other animals are concerned. We object to WAMU 88.5’s advertising for a commercial product that is misrepresented as coming from a “humane” source. Nellie’s hens are not treated humanely. They are not “loved” by their owners. They are mass produced. Mass production and humane treatment of animals are mutually exclusive. Please stop being a voice for Nellie’s Eggs.
Thank you for your attention to our concerns. We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Karen Davis, PhD, President
United Poultry Concerns