London Dungeon’s ‘VeBANuary’ joke gone awry

A variation on the term ‘Veganuary’ has left the popular London attraction with a wave of criticism. In an attempt to publicise their Mrs Lovett theme for this January, the London Dungeon put out a ‘ban’ to all vegans.

The attraction traditionally includes an experiential segment where guests enter Mrs Lovett’s pie shop, historically famous for using human meat. Mrs Lovett then guides you into the hands of sweeney Todd, the demon barber, where you are to be ‘murdered’ for her pies.

It is quite curious that the attraction decided to equate a focus on cannibalism with a vegan ban in their marketing. Apparently their rational was something along the lines of ‘this Veganuary, the London Dungeon has decided to stand behind Mrs Lovett and her iconic but somewhat suspicious meat pies. If she doesn’t do vegan, neither will we’- from a London Dungeon spokesperson.

This campaign launched an attack from PETA, as well as being reported by many news sites. Whilst the Dungeons have now sent out an apology and claimed it was an ingenuine ban, the spark of controversy has provided a lot of media outreach.

By associating a ban on vegans with joke claims of support for human meat pies, the Dungeons may have also opened up some important ethical questions about the consumption of meat. You would assume that any human of sane mind would be against cannibalism, but what is it that distinguishes the moral worth of an animal from a human? What exactly can we pinpoint about animals that justifies their suffering and mass consumption?

Popular youtuber and recent vegan convert, Cosmic Skeptic (Alex O’Connor), discusses Animal Liberation, a book by Peter Singer, which extensively explores the ethical rational behind being vegan. Originally reading this book as a meat eater, the popular youtuber was converted, and now much of his content is devoted to promoting veganism around the world.

Peter singer’s book makes the case that it is impossible to pinpoint an attribute about animals and superimpose that attribute onto a human to justify treating them as we do animals. For example, if a lack of intelligence is your justification for eating animals, can we justify eating the most unintelligent humans? Just something to think about…

Any sort of debate on ethics was unlikely the intention of the London Dungeon, but it is an interesting side note. A senior member of PETA UK commented ‘The London Dungeon is cutting off its nose to spite its face with this gimmick, losing business while vegans amuse themselves at Madame Tussauds, where famous vegans such as Benedict Cumberbatch are immortalized, and other iconic London attractions’.

But for now, it is up to individuals to forgive this historical attraction. However, as we embark on this new year, it would be nice to remember that veganism is an act of compassion, and it would be a disservice to the ethos to fail in extending that compassion to those who make unsavoury jokes at our expense. There is enough toxicity in this world without us adding to it.

Article written by Aisling Geraghty- Australia