A cow fashion show – yes, literally, a fashion show for cows, organised by Danish Dairy received harsh criticism on social media after videos showed cows being paraded and auctioned on a ramp, in the build-up to Eid-ul-Azha.
The fashion show, titled "Danish Dairy Presents Hamba Night," was held on Saturday. It presented 45 cows from three dairy firms – Sadeeq Agro, Partex Dairy, and Danish Dairy.
"We wanted to promote sales of our medicine-free cows from our farms," Makin-ur-Rashid Rossi, director of Zelta Mobile, told the Dhaka Tribune. Zelta Mobile was one of the cosponsors of the event.
Photos and videos of the event went viral on social media, and users reacted, many calling it "sick" and "distasteful." Some questioned the point of showcasing cowgirls, who were seen on the ramp as well.
The photos and videos shared by bloggers show disco lights on the ramp, a rather mismatch to healthy cows being walked down the ramp with elegantly-dressed "rakhals" (cowboys). Why the men were made to dress in Bangali-style cowboys while women were made to dress in Western-style cowgirls is not quite clear.
Asked why they chose to have a fashion show, Rossi said: "In order to have a proper presentation, we needed to do something big, to catch people's attention. We want to discourage depending on India for cows."
However, although it fascinated some, the campaign ended up receiving more criticism and ridicule from users on social media. Some said they would boycott Danish products, while others expressed disgust at the idea of parading cows, to be bought off for slaughtering in a few days.
With the explosion of social media into different parts of our lifestyle, Eid-ul-Azha sees a controversial presence on social media, which gets riddled with "cowfies" (selfies taken with cows), and other odd behaviours, with some going to the extent of taking pics of the bloody, sacrificed animals. In recent years, even this practice has received a lot of backlash, and has in fact given rise to many conversations on the ethics of publicising the sacrifices made on this day.
This may explain why the cow fashion show received more ridicule and backlash than the intended excitement and hype, given many users on social media are increasingly becoming more aware – and openly critical – of such practices of showcasing the sacrifice of animals.