Lawsuit says dairy ads portray bovine growth hormone rbST as a six-eyed monster

Arla Foods, a Europe-based cheesemaker with a plant in the Fox Valley, has been sued over a $30 million advertising campaign that — the plaintiff says — casts bovine growth hormone rbST in an unfavorable light.  In a lawsuit filed recently in U.S. District Court in Green Bay, Eli Lilly Elanco US of Indianapolis alleges that Arla’s campaign perpetuates false claims that rbST — which promotes milk production in cows — is dangerous.Elanco markets rbST — recombinant bovine somatotropin — under the brand name Posilac. In its complaint, Elanco seeks an “immediate stop to a false and disparaging advertising campaign” by Arla Foods Inc. USA, based in New Jersey.“Arla’s assault on rbST’s safety is anything but subtle. In the 30-second television commercial that is the centerpiece of the campaign, Arla depicts rbST as an enormous, six-eyed monster with razor-sharp horns and electrified fur,” the lawsuit says.“Arla reinforces the core message, that rbST is dangerous, through an extensive, internet-based social media campaign that amplifies and repeats the commercial’s key images and messages,” the suit says.Arla says it is the fourth-largest dairy company in the world. In Wisconsin, it has a cheese plant in Kaukauna, near Appleton, that makes havarti, Gouda, Muenster and fontina products.Elanco says the ads depicting rbST as “weird stuff” and a six-eyed monster “intentionally frighten and mislead consumers" in an attempt to gain a competitive advantage.