Amsterdam bans public adverts for meat and fossil fuels

Unsurprisingly, the Dutch Meat Association, which represents the industry, is unhappy at the move, which it calls “an undesirable way to influence consumer behaviour”. It adds that meat “delivers essential nutrients and should remain visible and accessible to consumers”.

Meanwhile, the Dutch Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators says that the ban on advertising holidays that include air travel is a disproportionate curb on companies’ commercial freedom.

For activists like lawyer Hannah Prins and her environmental organisation Advocates for the Future, which worked closely with campaign group Fossil-Free Advertising, the ban on meat advertising is a deliberate attempt to create a “tobacco moment” for high carbon food.

“Because if I look now back at like old pictures, you have Johan Cruyff,” says Prins. “The famous Dutch footballer.

“He would be in advertisements for tobacco. That used to be normal. He died of lung cancer.

“That you were allowed to smoke on the train, on restaurants. For me, that’s like, whoa, why did people do that? You know, that feels so weird.

“So it really is like what we see in our public space is what we find normal in our society. And I don’t think it’s normal to see murdered animals on billboards. So I think it’s very good that that’s going to change.”