PETA helps humans (for a change)

I have plenty of issues with some of PETA's promotional tactics, like sexploitation and making fun of human tragedy, but this campaign I really like.

Last week, PETA donated 100 cast-off fur coats to the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, noting that people on the street are "the only people who have any excuse to wear them." They were then distributed free-of-charge.

Of course, they made note of the fact that all the furs had been "donated by erstwhile fur-wearers who, once they found out that animals on fur farms are often bludgeoned or genitally electrocuted, couldn't stand to have carcasses in their closets." PETA marks the coats to make resale impossible, and issues tax receipts to donors.

Donated furs are also used as bedding for animals in wildlife rehabilitation centers, or as props in anti-fur demos.

F'd Ad Fridays: Ink, not mink

Easy enough to say when you're under studio lights. But Chris "Birdman" Andersen plays hoops for Denver. If he's serious, he must be freezing his nuggets off by now.

PETA wishes Americans a Crappy Thanksgiving

Newser says NBC refused to air this ad. Which is stupid, because unlike PETA's usual shock and T&A tactics, this one is fairly sophisticated:



I am not a vegan, and I am not against eating meat. But I still agree that factory farming and processing of animals is cruel and disgusting.

Nude activism continues to take over the internet

First PETA. Then FEMEN. Then, last month, Egyptian blogger Aliaa Magda Elmahdy posted naked pictures of herself online to protest sexist oppression.

Now it's Chinese supporters of dissident artist Ai Weiwei who are dropping trou for a cause.

According to Shanghaiist,  Ai Weiwei announced Friday that Beijing police were now investigating his assistant Zhao Zhao for "spreading pornography online" for posting a picture of the artist with four female models, all nude. (Link)

The site, "Listen, Chinese Government： Nudity is not Pornography" is packed with homemade nudes from both well-known outspoken Chinese cewebrities and well-wishers.

What I really love are the group shots censored with AWW faces:

There is no doubt that this will get attention. Naked people always seem to, no matter how many billions of artistic, scientific and erotic nude pictures are available at the stroke of a Google. But as the shock value diminishes with the increasing ordinariness of seeing other humans in their altogether, will the efficacy of the tactic also fade?

I guess we'll just have to see. But as long as places like Egypt and China (not to mention many Western democracies) continue to harshly fight the normalization of naked displays of the human body, there will still be someone to scandalize.

(Thanks to FEMEN for the tip)

PETA wants Texans to rename their town along vegan lines

No shit:

Amarillo Texas -- PETA today [Nov 14] sent a letter to Pat Carson, the mayor of Turkey, Texas, urging him to change the name of his town to "Tofurky" in time for Thanksgiving. In the letter, PETA points out that turkeys suffer virtually every day of their lives, right up to and including their slaughter, and that eating turkey and other meats is an invitation to serious health problems. Tofurky, on the other hand, is a delicious and "meaty" comfort food, and it comes without the suffering endured by turkeys. To sweeten the pot, PETA has offered to provide the entire town with a full-course vegan holiday feast if the name change goes through. 

"Thanksgiving is murder on turkeys," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "By changing its name to 'Tofurky,' Turkey would send a clear message that delicious, savory mock meat is an easy way to celebrate without causing suffering—and give a bird something to be thankful for."

What's really awesome about this stunt is not the disingenuousness of the appeal, it's the reactions of the insulted townsfolk:



Nice troll, PETA.

Now, I'm sure you're wondering who Bob Wills is:



Tip via Newser

PETA brings you Bloody Mario

You've got to hand it to PETA. Their creativity is as boundless and their shamelessness.

This time, they're after Super Mario:

"When on a mission to rescue the princess, Mario has been known to use any means necessary to defeat his enemy—even wearing the skin of a raccoon dog to give him special powers.

Tanooki may be just a "suit" in Mario games, but in real life, tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur. By wearing Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it's OK to wear fur. Play Super Tanooki Skin 2D and help Tanooki reclaim his fur!"

In this version of the game (complete with infuriating MIDI-type music), you are the skinned raccoon dog, chasing after a flying Mario, dripping blood from your flayed pelt he has wrapped himself in. Fun for the whole family!

Enjoy the game here.

F'd Ad Fridays: Turkeydogs against American Thanksgiving

The obvious answer is "because I'm not emotionally invested in a turkey I've never met and besides those freaky things look like some kind of mutant dinosaur that would eat me given half the chance."

Luckily, my Thanksgiving was last month so we slipped under the PETA radar.

Via AdFreak

F'd Ad Fridays: PETA is against human fur, too

I think this partnership must have been the idea of a horny male Art Director who spends too much time dreaming up euphemisms for vulvas and submitting them to Urban Dictionary.

Or he's a big fan of Etsy.

Pic via Copyranter

Laura Vandervoort goes "V" for PETA

No, it's not "vegan" this time. The Canadian actress, known for her portrayal of reptillian alien in the remake of "V" (video in new window), has gotten herself undressed and herped up once again, but this time it's for a cause:

That's right, it's PETA. But at least her ads have some cultural context beyond "hey! look! I'm naked over here!", plus the slaughter of exotic reptiles in the wild for shoes and handbags is pretty unconscionable. (Yes, I know there are also farms...)

"Aggressive Ho" and other porn parodies of your least favourite ads

For years, I've been saying that the inevitable conclusion of increasingly supersexualized ads is that they'll soon drop all pretenses and go directly to the hardcore porn approach.

PETA has already validated this on the sexy advertiser side with their plan to launch a porn site featuring nude vegans gone wild.

Now, according to AdFreak, Hustler is meeting PETA in the middle with a porn movie about advertising, "America's Favorite Commercials Gone Porn".

Here's one (censored for YouTube) that makes fun of Flo from Progressive Insurance:



You can check out the rest (including the obvious "Five-Dollar Footlong" bit) at AdFreak.

F'd Ad Fridays: [Media] NY Times sexy chicken is weird (and done like dinner)

Mainstream print-oriented media may be fighting a losing battle, but the New York Times has taken an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach to grabbing eyeballs with the bizarre.

Dining section photo editor Tiina Loite said “My original concept was sort of a languid nude". Some compared the final shot to Burt Reynolds' Playgirl shoot (but with less hair). PETA called it "ghastly and sickly" and "necrophilia".

My reaction? "Seen it". And I hated it then.

Seriously offputting.

F'd Ad Fridays: Today's PETA outrage

The guy in the centre of this picture is CJ Wickersham, a recreational spear fisher who wound up in the news (and in hospital) after a bull shark attacked and almost bit off his leg. Even though it was a truamatic wound, requiring had to get about 800 stitches, he said he has no hard feelings against the shark.

Wickersham is luckier than Michael Cohen, a Canadian who has lost his leg and is fighting for his life after a great white attack in South Africa.

Shark attacks do happen. They are, however, rare and any conservationist will tell you that we are a far greater threat to their species (through unsustainable fishing and horrific "finning" to serve the shark fin soup market) than they are to ours.

Nonetheless, there is absolutely no call for this:

According to AdFreak, PETA is fruitlessly attempting  to get this billboard posted in the vicinity of where the Wickersham attack took place.

Yes, this kind of asshattery gets them in the news. But it is also what polarizes people like me, who are empathetic towards animal welfare, against them. The jerks.

PETA's confused Biblical symbolism

Angela Simmons is an MTV reality TV "star" and a self-professed Christian, as well as a vegetarian. She is also PETA's newest spokesmodel:

Now, here's where they lose me. The apple, I thought, was the symbol of sin. (The sin of knowing too much, that is.) So if eating meat is a sin, why is she trying to tempt me into sinning? Or is she trying to tempt me into eating fruits and vegetables instead? But isn't vegetarianism, in that context, the sin?

Furthermore, the punishment for giving in to temptation was being kicked out of the garden, being ashamed of our nudity, and having to kill animals to survive (and to appease Yaweh). If you've ever actually read the damn Bible, you'd know that the OT God hates veggies—only blood will slake his thirst. And Adam and Eve only covered up with leaves after they felt shame.

I am so confused by this ad. And I only went to Sunday School. Imagine how confusing this must have been for poor Angela, who PETA describes as a "devout Christian".

Ah, there. They got rid of the confusing leaves. That's a little better. At least it puts us in a pre-sin context where there is nothing shameful about being as God made us (give or take a few hair extensions). But that apple is still confusing me. Are you trying to tempt me to sin? (I mean, beyond the hazard of committing Onanism.) Or is she trying to tempt me away from sin... with sin? And is the apple meaty sin, or fruity salvation? Help!

All images via Global Grind

Oh, OK. That's better. No leaves, no apple, no logo, no confusing copy.

Now what were we talking about again?

Maybe the video wil explain.

The cheesiest ad you will see today

AdFreak shared this new provocation by Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine:

It's going to be placed along the highway in De Pere, Wisconsin, where Green Bay Packers cheeseheads will see it on the way to Lambeau Field on Oct. 2 for a game against the Denver Broncos.

That's right, they want Wisconsinites to give up cheese.

From PCRM's release:

"Foods served at Lambeau Field’s eateries are typically loaded with cheese and other high-fat dairy products. Offerings include Hall of Fame Curds, which are deep-fried Wisconsin cheese curds; Cheesehead Beer Cheese Soup, made with cheddar cheese, beer, and then topped with more cheese; and nachos piled with cheddar cheese and sour cream. Americans today eat three times as much cheese as they did in 1970—almost 33 pounds per person in a single year.

'Our greatest concern is for children who are fed cheese products by their well-meaning parents,' says PCRM nutrition education director Susan Levin, M.S., R.D. “Cheese is loaded with fat, cholesterol, sodium—and calories. It ought to come with a warning label so consumers understand the health risk."

Oh, really?

In case you aren't familiar with these guys, they are actually an animal welfare organization in disguise. I have long considered them another front for PETA, although the relationship is arm's length, with PETA only providing them some funding.

There is no doubt that too much cheese is bad for your health. And Wisconsinites are overweight. But that's not really why PCRM wants people to stop eating cheese.

From Quackwatch:

"The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is a nonprofit association that claims to promote "optimal diet for prevention of disease," says there is evidence that humans don't have a specific requirement for protein, and teaches that "too much dietary protein from animal sources is detrimental to health."  PCRM's reference to "animal sources" is key to understanding its true purpose. Its leader, Neal Barnard, MD, has been identified as medical adviser to the radical animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and PCRM may be substantially funded by it."

Which is certainly their prerogative. But why not be more honest about their motives? Because a billboard that says "the dairy industry is cruel to cows" does not appeal to people's self interest. Instead, PCRM goes after the consumption of animal-based foods with dire warnings about health consequences.

Personally, I am much more concerned about cruelty to humans than cruelty to animals. What would you think if I went on a rant about inhumane child labour in the cultivation of chocolate, coffee or bananas, but then I suddenly told you that I wanted you to stop buying those things because I'm worried for your health? You'd question my motives. (And probably ask me why I didn't consider Fairtrade tropical goods.)

Anything is bad for you in excess. Factory farming is disgusting and cruel. And PCRM is not a very "responsible" advertiser, IMHO.

You knew it was coming to this: PETA to launch porn site

The controversial ".XXX" top level domain is set to launch at year's end. And at the bottom of a Reuters article about how major brands are scrambling to lock down their claims against sexy squatters is this item:

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals also signed up. However, instead of blocking its name, said PETA spokeswoman Lindsay Rajt, the organization will launch peta.xxx as a pornography site that draws attention to the plight of animals.

PETA has long used and abused sexuality (particularly female sexuality) to get its message across.

The fleshy outreach comes in two flavours: the tasteful celebrity nude and the naked dedication of an army of beautiful young nobodies around the world.

The question arises whether PETA is planning to put these earnest and trusting efforts into its "porn" enterprise. First of all, I doubt many of the actresses or volunteers want a career in porn. With, perhaps, some notable exceptions...

Second, why would anyone pay for what PETA gives away for free?

I realize this is just a publicity stunt. But it should also lead you to question what they're really willing to do for their cause.