PETA Claims 'Happy Cow' Ads Are Too Far Afield

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed a complaint Tuesday with the Federal Trade Commission, alleging that the California Milk Advisory Board engaged in deceptive advertising with its "Happy Cow" commercials.

The complaint says the idyllic commercials, which take place in grassy pastures and end with the tag line "Great cheese comes from happy cows. Happy cows come from California," provide a false picture of California's more intense dairy production and thus mislead consumers into buying a product they might not buy otherwise.

Animals on many of California's dairy farms are kept in dirt lots and open sheds, rather than pastures and straw-carpeted barns, the complaint says. And California farms have higher slaughter rates than dairy herds in other states.

Representatives of the milk advisory board say there are many types of farms in California, including pasture operations like those filmed for the ads.

Melinda Fulmer