Banned Super Bowl ad takes PETA from controversial to pornographic

We agree that our ads are risqué, but please consider that they are no more provocative than the other ads promoting unhealthy products, like beer and fast-food burgers, that are frequently shown during regular primetime television and on Super Bowl Sunday. You can see our ads at http://features.PETA.org/casting-session/.

We often do “sexy” or “shocking” things to get the word out about animal abuse. PETA’s job is to draw attention to animal suffering, and we have found that provocative tactics yield more attention than the facts alone, which aren’t enough to attract interest in today’s tabloid media. We use all available opportunities to reach millions of people with powerful messages. The situation is critical for billions of animals who are suffering on factory farms and in slaughterhouses, and our goal is to make the public think about the issues. Sometimes this requires tactics—like naked marches and colorful ad campaigns—that some people find outrageous or offensive. We welcome discussion about—and even criticism of—our ads and campaigns because we know that getting people talking is the first step in raising awareness.

We have found—and your message confirms—that people do pay more attention to our racier actions. As a result of our ads, PETA representatives have been interviewed and our ads have been played—for free—on cable television talk shows with audiences numbering into the millions. This means that people across America are hearing about how animals suffer on factory farms, and judging by the spike in visits to our websites after we publicized our ads—more than a million hits for the original “Veggie Love” alone—this tactic is working, and more people than ever before are learning and thinking about going vegan.

As an organization staffed largely by feminist women, we would not do something that we felt exacerbated the very serious problems that women face. Our demonstrators and models of both genders choose to participate in our actions because they want to do something to make people stop and pay attention. We believe that people should have the choice to use their own bodies to make social statements—a tactic with a long history of success.

To learn more about going vegan, to order a vegetarian/vegan starter kit, or to browse meat-free recipes for Super Bowl Sunday and every day, visit http://www.PETA.org/living/vegetarian-living/default.aspx.

To learn how you can get active to help animals, please go to http://www.PETA.org/action/default.aspx.

Thank you again for writing and for sharing your thoughts with us.

Sincerely,