WildAid and Choice have launched our Good-for-Nothing Bushmeat campaign calling on Vietnamese citizens to say no to consuming wildlife products like bushmeat. Bushmeat refers to meat from wild animals that are killed for food. Animals commonly killed for bushmeat in Vietnam include pangolins, deer, wild pigs, and civets.
The campaign aims to positively influence the awareness and behavior of bushmeat consumers by offering new perspectives to the outdated belief that bushmeat is “hygienic, organic, and gourmet”, and providing information on the threats of bushmeat consumption to humans. The campaign specifically targets bushmeat consumers, with a focus on Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and other major cities—where 80% of bushmeat is consumed in Vietnam.
As monitored by our team over the past few years, bushmeat and other wildlife products are illegally sold openly with various claims, such as:
1. Bushmeat is hygienic because wildlife is hunted and butchered on the spot.
2. It is gourmet for food connoisseurs, who enjoy “delicacies” fresh from nature.
As a result, consumers mistakenly believe that bushmeat, which carries many hidden pathogens, is safer and more nutritious than livestock meat that has undergone inspections.
The campaign raises critical questions about the true nature of bushmeat:
Can bushmeat be “hygienic” when it often consists of poorly preserved, decomposing meat buried underground, posing a serious risk of infectious diseases like SARS coronavirus, Ebola, A/H5N1, and Nipah virus?
Can bushmeat be considered “gourmet” when so-called rare delicacies, such as wild boar, are often farmed pigs starved and implanted with fake hair to imitate wild meat?
Can bushmeat be labeled “organic” when it is preserved with formaldehyde and “cleansed” with other harmful chemicals before being sold?
Or are these just deceptive practices designed to make consumers pay a premium for “good-for-nothing” bushmeat?
The campaign’s tagline, “Ăn miếng thịt rừng mất Sạch Sành Sanh” is a wordplay in Vietnamese, meaning one will lose everything with just one bite of bushmeat. Not only are consumers of bushmeat unable to achieve the rumored health benefits, but they also risk contracting dangerous infectious diseases, digestive diseases, and even cancer due to consuming unhygienic meat that has been treated with toxic chemicals. Mr. Trần Thanh Kim Tiền, Marketing Communications Manager at Choice believes the campaign will be a big help in educating consumers: “With the Good-for-Nothing Bushmeat campaign, Choice and WildAid hope to inform the public of the threats behind bushmeat consumption, thereby eliminating bushmeat from being sold at delicacy restaurants, encouraging the public to be mindful of their health and contributing to wildlife conservation.”
The campaign will run throughout the 2024 summer tourism season when bushmeat consumption in Vietnam commonly peaks. Campaign media officially kicked off on June 24, 2024, through various online and offline channels, including prominent outdoor advertising spaces at Vincom Phạm Ngọc Thạch, Hanoi and Ben Thanh Market, and Ho Chi Minh City, along with LCD screens in elevators of office buildings and high-end apartments, and major social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.
The campaign’s PSA utilizes creative key visuals with thought-provoking messages, subtly letting the public arrive at their own conclusions. In the first two weeks of its run, the PSA played over 1.2 million times on Facebook and received over 700,000 views on YouTube.
Additionally, we launched a Good-for-Nothing Bushmeat webpage to provide general information about the campaign, along with facts and statistics on the looming threats from bushmeat and other wildlife products. The website also offers guidelines on living more harmoniously with nature and conserving the environment. The community is invited to commit to taking action for wildlife by pledging via the website to turn down bushmeat and urging others to do the same.
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Contact
Trần Thanh Kim Tiền (Mr.)
Marketing Communications Manager, Choice Not-for-profit
Phone number: (+84) 76 7856 579
Email: tientran@choicevn.com
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Additional information for editors:
Campaign KVs: Link
WildAid
WildAid is an environmental organization with the mission to protect wildlife from illegal trade and other imminent threats. WildAid mainly focuses on reducing the demand for and consumption of wildlife products such as ivories, rhino horns, and shark fins through communication campaigns and supporting the strengthening of regulations and law enforcement. With the participation of celebrity ambassadors and a global network of media partners, WildAid mobilizes the support of media partners with a media value of more than 230 million dollars annually. Official website: https://wildaidvietnam.org/
Choice
Choice is a Vietnamese not-for-profit company that provides practical solutions and cost-effective services in environmental communications, education, and sustainability consultancy, serving both nonprofit and for-profit sectors. With high-profile founders and directors and highly skilled staff members who have experience in implementing many environmental awareness and behavior change projects, Choice is a reliable partner to develop and implement customized environmental projects that will help partners achieve their goals and contribute to the regenerative future of Vietnam, where nature and humans coexist.
Official website: https://choicevn.com/
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WildAid is a non-profit organization with a mission to protect wildlife from illegal trade and other imminent threats. While most wildlife conservation groups focus on protecting animals from poaching, WildAid primarily works to reduce global consumption of wildlife products such as elephant ivory, rhino horn and shark fin soup. With an unrivaled portfolio of celebrity ambassadors and a global network of media partners, WildAid leverages more than $308 million in annual pro-bono media support with a simple message: When the Buying Stops, the Killing Can Too.
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