Welsh cinemas launch 'Ho-Ho Horrifying Christmas Ad' that charity says will turn viewers vegan

Stephen Price

PETA’s newest Christmas advert, which urges people to open their eyes to the animal suffering behind their meaty centrepieces, is coming to big screens across Wales this December.

The advert will play across Odeon and Cineworld screens in Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham, Broughton and Bridgend just as cinema-goers will be thinking of their Christmas holiday meals.

Created in collaboration with Grey London and directed by David Shane, the spot shows a family sitting down for a traditional Christmas dinner – but as they gorge on turkey and ham, a torrent of blood splatters across their faces. The merrymakers remain oblivious to the gruesome scene around them as they continue to eat, drink, and swap stories.

The spot ends with a sombre reminder that over 180 million animals are slaughtered in the UK alone during the festive season – and an appeal to spare animals this Christmas and beyond by going vegan.

The ad – which has been rated a 15 – is being shown at Odeon and Cineworld cinemas throughout the month of December.

PETA Vice President of Programmes Elisa Allen said: “Behind every trussed-up turkey, holiday ham, or beef Wellington was an individual who felt pain and fear and didn’t want to die.

“PETA urges Cardiff locals to choose compassion over carnage this Christmas by tucking into a savoury vegan roast.”

Pigs are soothed by music, cows have best friends, and turkeys are doting parents – but in the meat industry, the animals are raised in filthy, crowded conditions, trucked to slaughterhouses through all weather extremes, and violently killed. In addition to sparing animals a lifetime of misery and an agonising death, each person who goes vegan also dramatically shrinks their food-related carbon footprint and slashes their risk of developing cancer, heart disease, and other ailments.

PETA notes that all of the food used in its video was vegan, proving that there’s an animal-friendly version of everything these days – and offers a guide to meatless Christmas roasts and a free vegan starter kit for those ready to make the switch.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” – points out that Every Animal Is Someone.

For more information, visit PETA.org.uk or follow PETA on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.