PSA Alert: Olympians Champion the Dairy-Free Lifestyle

Besides being world-class Olympic athletes, what do silver-medal-winning cyclist Dotsie Bausch, six-time medalist and swimmer Rebecca Soni, weightlifter Kendrick Farris, soccer player Kara Lang, sprinter Malachi David, and alpine ski racer Seba Johnson have in common? They are all living decidedly dairy-free.

Plus, all six elite athletes have now joined forces to spread the word that dairy does not do a body good—despite America’s long history of influential pro-milk ad campaigns.

This inspirational line-up of plant-based Olympians, lead by Bausch, are speaking out in a new public service announcement about the life-changing benefits of ditching dairy. The PSA aired during the closing ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, reaching audiences in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., San Francisco, and Dallas.

Directed by Oscar winner Louie Psihoyos (The Cove and the upcoming The Game Changers), the spot is part of a bigger “Switch4Good” campaign that has surfaced as an antidote to the Milk Life ads that aired heavily throughout the 2018 Winter Games—a campaign that suggests drinking milk as children helped Olympians achieve athletic greatness later in life.

On the benefits of going plant-based, Bausch told AdWeek, “I switched to a whole foods, plant-based diet about two and a half years before the 2012 Olympic games. I stood on the podium at 39 years old, the oldest competitor ever in my specific discipline. My diet change was the key factor in me being able to recover quicker, decrease inflammation, and have all the stamina and energy I needed to compete against competitors 20 years my junior.”