A group that advocates for the rights of animals claims that hues like “Dead Salmon” and “Au Lait” disregard the sentience of fish and the exploitation of cows.
The environmental organisation Peta has requested that the paint maker Farrow & Ball rename colours that “normalise exploiting animals.”
In a letter to the colour curator at Farrow & Ball, Peta stated that “renaming animal product-monikered paints would be a fun way to appeal to more conscious consumers.” The letter included the colours Dead Salmon, Smoked Trout, and Potted Shrimp as examples of such paints.
According to a letter written by Yvonne Taylor, who is the vice president of corporate programmes at Peta, such names are inappropriate. It is the conclusion of the scientific community that fish are sentient beings who are able to experience both fear and pain. Each of them possesses a unique personality, is capable of acquiring new knowledge, and takes pleasure in engaging in intricate social connections.
Considering the negative effects that fish farming had on the environment, Taylor stated that the promotion of fish farming was “in conflict with Farrow & Ball’s commitment to sustainability.”
In addition, the letter asserts that the colours “Au Lait” and “Skimmed Milk White” normalise the exploitation of cows, which, on dairy farms, are taken away from their mothers within the first 36 hours of their birth.
“Cows that are raised for dairy may spend their entire lives standing on concrete floors and being fed an unnatural diet that includes other animals,” she said. “There is a possibility that they will be slaughtered at the age of just five.”
Taking into account the fact that Farrow & Ball already possesses a collection that is completely cruelty-free and primarily vegan, Taylor stated that the implementation of these modifications will “make the range even more inclusive.”
However, until then, renaming colours that normalise animal abuse is one way to remind others that animals are not food but rather sentient individuals and members of the delicate ecosystem that we all share, she said. “We hope that the Farrow & Ball range will soon be entirely vegan and that Soft Distemper and Casein Distemper will also evolve to become animal product-free,” she said.
On its website, Peta describes speciesism as “a human-supremacist worldview” that excuses the exploitation of some species. Peta’s mission statement concentrates on the resistance to speciesism, which has more than 9 million members and supporters around the world.