How animals are portrayed in literature, film, advertising, and social media shapes public attitudes toward them. Understanding these representations helps advocates use media strategically and challenge harmful portrayals.
Media representations of animals have real welfare consequences through the attitudes and behaviours they shape in viewers. Exotic animal content that makes wild animals appear tame and approachable drives demand for illegal wildlife trade. Advertising that portrays farm animals in natural settings while selling intensively farmed products creates cognitive dissonance that advocates can leverage. Documentaries that take animal suffering seriously build public support for welfare reform. Strategic use of media -- and challenge of harmful representations -- is a legitimate and high-impact welfare advocacy tool.