Animal rights group PETA left a few Londoners in a state of shock after pranking them with a milk product in their recent controversial campaign.
The group, which has been criticized for past campaigns such as comparing the Jewish Holocaust to the treatment of battery chickens in Germany, offered people a “new alternative” to cow’s milk, but little did the participants know they were being tricked into drinking substance portrayed as “dog’s milk.”
Working with advertising agency Don’t Panic London, PETA used actors to distribute the product on the street as well as in a mock market research scenario.
READ MORE: PETA stage graphic 'meat is murder' protest in Germany (VIDEO)
The campaign asks: “Dogs’ milk, cats’ milk, rats’ milk, cows’ milk – what’s the difference?” It takes aim at the dairy industry and the treatment of cows within it.
PETA says cows are pumped full of antibiotics and milk is unhealthy for human consumption.
Initially, one participant described the milk as “whiter than white,” as she held up the glass and had a sip.
Another participant also complimented the drink. “This tastes smooth. It’s like a milkshake basically, but smooth,” she said.
Seconds later, participants were informed that the substance they were drinking was, in fact, dog’s milk.
Needless to say, the expressions of those featured in the project changed immediately.
Which was then followed by lots of spitting and disgust.
“Humans are the only species on the planet that drinks another animal’s milk, and cows’ milk is no more natural for us than dogs’ milk,” PETA Director Elisa Allen said in a statement. “When it comes to drinking milk past breast-feeding age, plant-based is best.”
Luckily for the participants, the prank substance turned out to be soya milk.