PETA Ad NOT OK!

[Vegabond]

I'm sory but I think this ad is not a very good idea. I am actually ashamed to be somewhat affiliated with them. I understand what they are trying to say, don't get me wrong here, but the timing is just wrong. That's my opinion.

http://blog.peta.org/archives/2008/08/cannibalistic_a.php

[Sluggie]

I think it's a stupid ad too. It will cause disgust and alienation - at PETA, not at the livestock industry.

[seitan]

i like it when people have to face the reality (similarity) of their actions.

what exactly is it that people dont like about this ad?

[harpy]

what exactly is it that people dont like about this ad?

I'd say the trouble with it is that only people who are already veg*n are likely to see it as a somewhat valid parallel. Omnivores don't think meat-eating is like cannibalism because of the distinction they make between animals and people, and that's why they're omnivores.

[Gorilla]

people won't associate the similarities between the murder of the man on the bus and the slaughter of animals in the meat industry. they'll just think it's sick of Peta to use the story for their own ends.

[gogs67]

I'm sory but I think this ad is not a very good idea. I am actually ashamed to be somewhat affiliated with them. I understand what they are trying to say, don't get me wrong here, but the timing is just wrong. That's my opinion.

http://blog.peta.org/archives/2008/08/cannibalistic_a.php

Yep, what went on on that bus has shocked the nation, this will be seen by many as cheapening it! Don't think it'll do the veggie cause any good at all!
Saying that, the Irn Bru advert with a little calf saying "When I'm a burger, I want to be washed down with Irn-Bru". ..I thought was a brilliant national campaign that would have got peoples minds on where their food comes from and yet the majority of complaints that got the advert stopped were from, wait for it, yes, vegetarians!!!:confused:

[seitan]

I'd say the trouble with it is that only people who are already veg*n are likely to see it as a somewhat valid parallel. Omnivores don't think meat-eating is like cannibalism because of the distinction they make between animals and people, and that's why they're omnivores.

The parallel isn't that close anyway because people don't generally eat animals alive.

how do we know tho what carnies will get from this? did everybody here only go veg*n because they heard somebody say somehting ncie about veg*ns?

[seitan]

people won't associate the similarities between the murder of the man on the bus and the slaughter of animals in the meat industry. they'll just think it's sick of Peta to use the story for their own ends.

we dont know that. ill start a new thread.

[Gorilla]

most meat-eaters don't want to be reminded of where meat comes from, they want to keep kidding themselves. these ads may work on a few people but the majority will want to keep deluding themselves.

[Gorilla]

i'd never heard this story before by the way, and one of the most awful things about it is that by the sound of it, nobody did anything to try and stop this guy :confused:

[harpy]

Yep, what went on on that bus has shocked the nation, this will be seen by many as cheapening it!

Agreed.

[seitan]

and just to clarify, it is terrible what happened, but no real suprise humans will do that to each other (weekend evenings people are fighting all over the place).

maybe off topic, but if the gu ywho did this on the bus needed a blood transfusion ,are people still willing to oblige?

[harpy]

maybe off topic, but if the guy who did this on the bus needed a blood transfusion ,are people still willing to oblige?

He wouldn't be top of my priority list of deserving cases but

(a) to me, he's obviously mentally ill, and
(b) the blood transfusion system wouldn't be viable if donors tried to dictate who they were going to give their blood to

[gogs67]

and just to clarify, it is terrible what happened, but no real suprise humans will do that to each other (weekend evenings people are fighting all over the place).

maybe off topic, but if the gu ywho did this on the bus needed a blood transfusion ,are people still willing to oblige?
You think maybe that's why he started eating the victim? in his warped mind he was 'curing' himself?


Edit:misread that, never saw the 'IF' on yer post!!!

[xrodolfox]

This Peta ad shows a severe callousness for human suffering.

That's what wrong with the ad.

I don't want people minimizing the brutal death of animals, and I don't want folks to minimize brutal deaths of people. This whole episode doesn't treat the situation with the warranted compassion needed in a time of crisis. Peta comes off as callous opportunists.

On top of it, ads aren't effective tools to change public opinion. What ads do succeed in is in elevating your own public profile.

Shame on Peta. Shame.

[Hemlock]

I can't see anything wrong with it really, what's the difference? People aren't going to like the comparison though as most people see themselves as superior to all other races.

[seitan]

so, would people opposed to this ad ,also be annoyed at the holocaust/abbotior comparsions?

[harpy]

This Peta ad shows a severe callousness for human suffering

I don't actually agree with that myself - they are saying animal suffering is as bad as human suffering, not being callous about either.

Also (to give them the benefit of the doubt) they are elevating the profile of vegetarianism/animal welfare rather than anyone's personal profile.

However, I suspect it will come across as callous and self-serving to the majority of the public, and therefore backfire.

[harpy]

so, would people opposed to this ad ,also be annoyed at the holocaust/abbotior comparsions?


I'm not particularly annoyed by them myself, but I think they are generally counterproductive in trying to persuade people, because again the majority don't think animal deaths are very important, and so they think the comparison belittles the importance of the Holocaust. (Also because they generally have a rosy view of what happens in abbatoirs :( )

[xrodolfox]

If a close animal friend of mine died by the hands of another, I wouldn't want someone to use my sadness, or the shocking death to tie that death to that of anyone else. Not to children in Africa, or the animal murder industry, or to anything else.

That's how human suffering works. To compare a very specific suffering to another suffering minimized the unique sadness that the first group feels.

Imagine that your most loved one dies. Then instead of saying, "I'm sorry for you loss", or "You really loved _____", people said, "Oh, I lost my friend last week too." or "That's just like the children in Africa", or "Yeah, they kill people/animals like that every week in China/Texas".

It minimizes the suffering. Sadness isn't about logic. It's about feelings. And Peta is clearly not taking into account human FEELINGS. Thus, it comes off as calculating and opportunistic.

Now, if a LEGITIMATE person involved in the suffering, with compassion and understanding and some serious tact addresses the subject, then that same comparison can be made well.

However, Peta didn't do that.

Thus, it all depends on WHO makes the comparison, WHEN the comparison is made, and HOW that comparison is made.

I see how this beheading is like animal suffering. I also see how the holocaust is like factory farms. But that doesn't make it any less easy to make that comparison without actively causing uneeded harm to the people who felt that suffering. This has nothing to do with what the "majority" think. It's about compassion towards human animals.

This ad does NOTHING but give Peta publicity while NOT changing any minds, all at the expense of a saddened community. On another board I'm on, a vegan that lives in Manitoba mentioned how horrible that Peta ad was in the community. Unless Peta is less intelligent than I know them to be, this ad is about "any publicity is good publicity" rather than actually helping liberate animals from suffering.

Again: Shame on Peta.

[BlackCats]

The advert does seem tasteless to me although I can agree with their point. I read about this crime on another forum. PETA's tactics seem very aggressive but I know that they have influenced lots of people to become veggie and vegan although they seem to stir up a lot of outrage which I assume is partly their goal. I think even if they retracted the advert and apologised they still would have got the wanted attention through it.

[seitan]

I'm not particularly annoyed by them myself, but I think they are generally counterproductive in trying to persuade people, because again the majority don't think animal deaths are very important, and so they think the comparison belittles the importance of the Holocaust. (Also because they generally have a rosy view of what happens in abbatoirs :( )

how do you propose to educate these people then if, by telling them animals die, they will turn off??
you have GOT to try soemthing. of course, there is no way to guage how many will or wont turn.

[xrodolfox]

I know that Peta has influenced lots of people to become veggie and vegan.

I'd like to see that facts on that.

I didn't become vegan due to Peta. It was in spite of Peta. Although their go vegan packets are somewhat useful, if full of faulty information.

I like rabble rousing and I like controversy. However, Peta just seems behave unethically and really problematically, just like an unethical corporation. Peta seems to me like the McDonalds of the AR movement.

[harpy]

how do you propose to educate these people then if, by telling them animals die, they will turn off??

I think it works better to argue from a premise that people agree with rather than something that they disagree with.

Ads like the old Vegsoc "Puppy on a plate" one are quite effective IMO, because most (Western) people already agree that a puppy is not food and so it makes them think about why they apply a different standard to, say, a calf. For the Peta approach to work requires people to accept that killing animals is somehow morally equivalent to killing people, and most don't.

You're right that it may work on some people, but as Rodolfo points out it's a bit insensitive to the victim's family, though perhaps not deliberately so.

[seitan]

If a close animal friend of mine died by the hands of another, I wouldn't want someone to use my sadness, or the shocking death to tie that death to that of anyone else. Not to children in Africa, or the animal murder industry, or to anything else.

That's how human suffering works. To compare a very specific suffering to another suffering minimized the unique sadness that the first group feels.

Imagine that your most loved one dies. Then instead of saying, "I'm sorry for you loss", or "You really loved _____", people said, "Oh, I lost my friend last week too." or "That's just like the children in Africa", or "Yeah, they kill people/animals like that every week in China/Texas".

It minimizes the suffering. Sadness isn't about logic. It's about feelings. And Peta is clearly not taking into account human FEELINGS. Thus, it comes off as calculating and opportunistic.

Now, if a LEGITIMATE person involved in the suffering, with compassion and understanding and some serious tact addresses the subject, then that same comparison can be made well.

However, Peta didn't do that.

Thus, it all depends on WHO makes the comparison, WHEN the comparison is made, and HOW that comparison is made.

I see how this beheading is like animal suffering. I also see how the holocaust is like factory farms. But that doesn't make it any less easy to make that comparison without actively causing uneeded harm to the people who felt that suffering. This has nothing to do with what the "majority" think. It's about compassion towards human animals.

This ad does NOTHING but give Peta publicity while NOT changing any minds, all at the expense of a saddened community. On another board I'm on, a vegan that lives in Manitoba mentioned how horrible that Peta ad was in the community. Unless Peta is less intelligent than I know them to be, this ad is about "any publicity is good publicity" rather than actually helping liberate animals from suffering.

Again: Shame on Peta.

why are you so cocksure that it will NOT change any minds?
i hate that arrogance when people are so convinced.