Auntie Anne’s Removes “Dog” from Hot Dog, Leaves Meat

The Malaysian Islamic Development Department (MIDD) ordered Malaysian locations of multi-national food company Auntie Anne’s to remove the word “dog” from its Pretzel Dog as the menu item does not contain dog meat. Muslims make up 60 percent of the population in Malaysia, and so many restaurants aim for halal certification to serve Muslim customers who believe dog meat is unclean. MIDD recommended that Auntie Anne rename the menu item “pretzel sausages” to be more accurate. Other chains in the country have used euphemisms for their menu items to appeal to Muslim customers, including A&W, which renamed their hot dogs “coneys” and replaced frankfurters with “franks.” An October study found that when meat-eaters were presented with menu items that replaced “beef” with “cow” and “pork” with “pig,” many empathized with the animal terms and expressed disgust in eating them. MIDD’s order to remove a term that reminded customers of animals is an example of the cognitive dissonance necessary in order for it to be palatable for humans to consume animals.