The Protego Foundation Launches New Campaign With Support of Vegan ‘Harry Potter’ Actors Evanna Lynch & Robbie Jarvis

Jun 04, 2018

Posted by: Emma Pocock

Charity, HP Cast, Jarvis, Lynch, News, Products, Theme Park, Universal Studios Japan, Wizarding World of Harry Potter Hollywood, WIzarding World of Harry Potter Orlando

Animal rights charity The Protego Foundation launched a new campaign today with the support of Potter actors, aiming to improve the accessibility of Butterbeer to fans and ensure the drink is animal-friendly. Their new petition calls on Universal Studios’ Wizarding World of Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World franchise, along with Warner Bros, to make the drink with vegan and dairy-free whipped topping. The campaign has so far received support from Harry Potter actors Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) and Robbie Jarvis (Young James Potter).

If you’ve been lucky enough to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios theme parks (or the Warner Bros Studio Tour), it’s likely you’ve tried one of their signature drink recreations from the Harry Potter series – Butterbeer. However, if you’re vegan or lactose intolerant, it’s likely you had to give this experience a miss, due to the whipped topping containing cow’s milk. Currently this topping “cannot be left off of the drink per licensing agreements with Harry Potter franchise owner Warner Bros”, according to The Protego Foundation (the option to remove the topping is, however, available at Warner Bros Studio Tour in London).

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The new campaign by The Protego Foundation calls on supporters to sign a petition to Universal Studios and Warner Bros executives, participate in a tweet storm on June 8th, and – if possible – leave a comment at the parks in person by visiting Universal Studios Guest Services directly. As with their previous campaigns, Protego Foundation Co-Founder and Executive Director Tylor Starr relates the launch to the ethos of the Potter series and calls on Warner Bros and Universal Studios to “channel their inner Hermione or Newt Scamander”:

“The Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts stories are full of animal-friendly messages and themes, including Hermione Granger’s campaign for house-elf liberation. Warner Bros. and Universal Studios can channel their inner Hermione or Newt Scamander and help mother cows on commercial dairy farms by replacing the whipped topping on Butterbeer with one made from environmentally-friendly alternatives like rice milk, coconut milk, or almond milk.”

Harry Potter actors (and vegan podcast ChickPeeps co-hosts) Robbie Jarvis and Evanna Lynch also gave their voices to the campaign. Robbie Jarvis argued that the change would represent a move toward honoring the messages in the Potter series:

“The world of Harry Potter is all about love & kindness. Harry’s mother surrounded him with her love and it formed a protection that even Voldemort couldn’t break. [I’d be] happy to see Universal Studios’ Wizarding World honoring that message by ensuring that no mother has to be separated from her baby just so we can enjoy Butterbeer.”

Evanna Lynch also commented on the campaign – she, Robbie and Tylor previously hosted a two-part discussion of veganism and Harry Potter during a ChickPeeps Special on animal rights in the wizard world earlier this year (read more here, and listen to the podcast episodes here):

“I’ve been a member of the vegan community for the past five years and the Harry Potter community for most of my life, and nothing makes me happier than when these two worlds intersect. I genuinely can’t imagine a lovelier day out than going to The Wizarding World to enjoy a butterbeer with my vegan friends. I will be first in line when that day comes.”

The current goal of the campaign is to reach 5,000 petition signatures – find out more and sign the petition here, and read more about The Protego Foundation and their previous Potter-inspired campaigns here.

What are your thoughts on this campaign? Are there any other Wizarding World inspired charities you want to raise awareness of? Let us know in the comments!





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.