PETA's New "Save The Whales" Billboard Takes Aim At Fat Women (UPDATED)

UPDATE 8/26:

PETA has taken down their controversial "Save The Whales" billboard, which drew intense ire from across the country. They have replaced it with a billboard that says, "GONE: Just like all the pounds lost by people who go vegetarian."

Ingrid Newkirk, president and founder of PETA wrote a response to the controversy in an exclusive blog for the Huffington Post.

America's obesity epidemic calls for tough love à la Dr. Phil and America's Biggest Loser, not more coddling and mock shock over a billboard pointing out that the majority of fat people need to have some discipline and remember that being fat means being a bad role model to our children, many of whom are now so fat themselves that "teeter-totter" has come to describe their wobbly gait.

[...]

Going meat-free can make a huge difference. Studies show that vegetarians are, on average, 10 to 20 pounds lighter than meat-eaters and that a vegetarian diet reduces our risk of heart disease by 40 percent and adds seven or more years to our lifespan.

[...]

PETA's billboard was fueled by a healthy respect for all the animals who are raised cruelly and killed in painful ways as well as for our own species's potential to be kind and healthy.

Read more here.

Quick Poll

What do you think of PETA taking their controversial ad down?

That's a relief, they did the right thing.

Glad they took it down, but judging by the new billboard, I'm not sure they learned their lesson.

I loved the old billboard. PETA shouldn't have backed down.

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8/17

PETA's new billboard campaign in Florida is raising eyebrows and ire among women and health groups. A drawing on billboards in Jacksonville depicts an obese woman with the phrase, "Save The Whales, Lose The Blubber: Go Vegetarian."

In a press release, PETA stated:

A new PETA billboard campaign that was just launched in Jacksonville reminds people who are struggling to lose weight -- and who want to have enough energy to chase a beach ball -- that going vegetarian can be an effective way to shed those extra pounds that keep them from looking good in a bikini. [....]

Anyone wishing to achieve a hot "beach bod" is reminded that studies show that vegetarians are, on average, about 10 to 20 pounds lighter than meat-eaters. [...]

"Trying to hide your thunder thighs and balloon belly is no day at the beach," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "PETA has a free 'Vegetarian Starter Kit' for people who want to lose pounds while eating as much as they like.

Jessica at Feministing blasts the billboard as "fat-shaming" and that "PETA owes the residents of Jacksonville a serious apology."

Holly at Deceiver states, "This is exactly what you would expect [from PETA] -- no empathy for humans whatsoever, just a lot of B.S. about how vegetarianism will make fat people just a little bit less of a blight on humanity."

PETA is known for its attention-grabbing tactics involving scantily clad-women, like this veggie dog eat-in on Capitol Hill that involved playboy playmates wearing only lettuce bikinis.

When asked to comment on the charges that the ad is sexist and mocking of overweight people, Ashley Byrne, a senior campaigner for PETA stated, "Our goal is help overweight Jacksonville residents - the best way to do that is to go vegetarian. We're not trying to insult anyone. [....] Vegetarians look and feel better than meat eaters. This is a life-saving message."

When asked specifically if the billboard shames overweight people, Byrne stated, "If the billboard is shocking, hopefully it will gets people's attention, and help them improve quality of life for themselves and their families.... it's designed to help people."

This latest billboard reminded me of a recent Onion News Network send up of PETA's sexist tactics.

Advocacy Group Decries PETA's Inhumane Treatment Of Women

Quick Poll

What do you think of PETA's new ad?

It's horribly offensive, and totally turns me off from their cause.

I think this went a little too far.

It's no worse than any of their other sexist ads.

Going vegetarian is a good idea - whatever gets the point across.

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Comments

[voxdada]

10:29 AM on 09/23/2009

I think the billboard is humorous. I have no particular affiliation and/or bias towards vegetarians/omnivores. The ad is comical and will get attention. This is what Peta is going for (and it is the goal of all advertisements).. What is the big deal? They are not making fun of obese people, nor do I detect any ill will towards anyone. They just found an angle and ran with it. People waste so much time getting outraged over nothing just to placate themselves. It's a useless passtime.

[Malkin72]

06:59 AM on 09/04/2009

Every vegetarian I know is somewhere between chubby and chunky.

What are they talking about?

Do you think they have more than 24 brain cells in total at PETA HQ?

[itsmyparty]

05:49 PM on 08/29/2009

You know what?Animal rights don't have anything to do with weight.PETA does gimmicky stuff.It doesn't work.If I were donating money,I'd check out local groups,find the best one and donate there.PETA is so five minutes ago.

[wilray]

05:18 PM on 08/29/2009

They should try the Michael Phelps diet.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/34462/saturday-night-live-michael-phelps-diet

[wilray]

03:29 PM on 08/29/2009

Buddhism is a religion and a philosophy that teaches respect and compassion for the least significant of creatures. So you'd think Buddhism = vegetarianism. Of course, you'd think this if you'd never been to Thailand or even to a Thai restaurant. I recommend the Gai Tad Gatiem. Careful with the lemongrass soup. It's delicious but I find it to be literally breath taking. I had booked a trip to Thailand when the first gulf war. I heeded travel advisories and canceled my trip. But I had done a lot of study on Thai culture. They are the only S. E. Asian country that were never colonized by the Europeans, and approximately 95% are Buddhists. They have a minority population of Muslims.

One of my travel guides explained the Thai rationale. The Thai rationale is simple - waste avoidance. If the animal is already dead, why waste it. If the animal is at the butchers, it's already dead.

Sawat dee Krap.

[wilray]

07:36 PM on 08/28/2009

That's it I am so over PETA I may wear fur. First they attack our POTUS for defending himself against a disease carrying pest, and now this. I doubt they'll run this ad outside North America. Almost any place else, it makes no sense. Try convincing the exceptionally long lived and generally skinny Japanese that Kobe beef is a health wrecker. Try convincing the voluptuous German Fraulein to spit out her sausage. And while they're at it, try convincing the Danes and the Swedes to give up fur. While strolling along the Stroget in Copenhagen, I saw so many fur shops, I practically gasped.

We may kill ourselves with a knife and fork, but it pales in comparison to what we do with a remote and a gamebox. Behind every fat kid there is a game console. The elephant in the room that no one wants to deal with is our extraordinary sedentary life styles. We probably watch more sports than any group on the planet, however the operative word is "watch." Look at the sleek athletes on the field and then look in the stands. This is the problem. Japanese coming to America are surprised we don't start our work day with a rousing set of calisthenics instead of the coffee and donuts we consume. Reverse our sedentary behavior, and it really doesn't matter whether we eat meat or not. BTW, it would not surprise me if vegetarians were also shown to have a more active life style.

[AMaitrejean]

06:55 AM on 08/29/2009

Hey, I could have written this ;)

[wilray]

07:13 AM on 08/29/2009

You've been fanned.

[ArthurTwoShedsJackson]

05:10 PM on 08/27/2009

BREAKING: Anti-vegetarian fatties celebrate PETA billboard removal by downing armada of banana boats.

[Trevr84]

04:56 PM on 08/27/2009

The fundamental problem with PETA, of course, if the premise that animals feel pain the same way humans do. Since the dawn of time, humans like to attribute human characteristics to non-human objects (remember the romans worshiping the celestial "gods"?).

Pain, as humans feel it, has both a physical and emotional element. Pain, as animals feel it, is probably not an emotion as much as it is simply a reaction. Our minds are much more complex, and therefore we can only assume that we are able to feel things much more acutely, strongly. Unless you can prove to me that an animal suffers in the same way humans suffer, I don't see any logic to the way PETA seems to almost value animals over humans.

[regulargal]

05:46 PM on 08/27/2009

"Every particle of factual evidence supports the contention that the higher mammalian vertebrates experience pain sensations at least as acute as our own.

To say that they feel less because they are lower animals is an absurdity; it can easily be shown that many of their senses are far more acute that ours--visual acuity in certain birds, hearing in most wild animals, and touch in others; these animals depend more than we do today on the sharpest possible awareness of a hostile environment.

Apart from the complexity of the cerebral cortex (which does not directly perceive pain) their nervous systems are almost identical to ours and their reactions to pain remarkably similar, though lacking (so far as we know) the philosophical and moral overtones.

The emotional element is all too evident, mainly in the form of fear and anger." - Peter Singer

In June 2008, Spain became the first country to introduce an animal rights resolution, when a parliamentary committee voted in favor of limited rights for non-human primates, inspired by Peter Singer's Great Ape Project.

[wilray]

07:41 PM on 08/28/2009

Now if the Spaniards could just get rid of La Corrida.

[Mwenda Kobia]

07:05 AM on 09/03/2009

What you say is true. But Trevr84 also has a good point. We live in an anthropomorphic world where we portray or engage in extreme anthropomorphizing. From our childhood to adult life. From cereals, sports, school and corporate mascots, to cartoons, literature and even pets to an extent... Visit a country which culturally and socially depends and relies on animals and you will notice a completely different form of respect and attitude towards nature and animals. I'm not saying its a bad perception- just an over exaggerated one.

Obviously, animals feel pain. Some even have a capacity to either endure or experience more pain than we can bare. But is immensely multi-dimensional in Humans;
- Sensory-discriminitive (location, intensity, quality, duration)
- Motivational-affective (unpleasantness and urge to escape the unpleasantness)
- Cognitive-evaluative (Psychological trauma, neuropathic pain, )
pain's unpleasantness varies independently of its intensity, and “higher” cognitive activities such as appraisal, cultural values, distraction and hypnotic suggestion can influence both unpleasantness and intensity. Pain varies along both sensory-discriminative and motivational-affective dimensions. The magnitude or intensity along these dimensions, moreover, is influenced by cognitive activities such as evaluation of the seriousness of the injury.

Psychalgia (Psychological pain) is incredibly complex and layered in Humans, that it requires a different scientific approach.

Our perception of pain is more complex- not more important.. I just want to make that clear.

[Trevr84]

04:51 PM on 08/27/2009

How does PETA feel about animals that brutally kill and eat alive other animals? Do they only stand up for vegetarian animals? Is it cool if I treat a bear the same way it treats fish?

[CarlyHope]

03:12 PM on 08/27/2009

continue your elitism Peta, you look like jerks

[AMaitrejean]

03:05 PM on 08/27/2009

I don't need an excuse to detest PETA's ad campiagns. I simply do not like them.

Define "animal abuse".

I do not consider it abuse to use cows for meat, leather, dairy products, etc. Same with any other domesticated farm animal. Do I agree with the Chin ese using tiger's pen is for some imaginary aphrodisiac? No. Do I agree with the fact that many countries and cultures hunt endangered species for trophies or body parts? No. Do I agree with over fishing the world's oceans for food? No. Do I agree with the importation of exotic birds when so many need homes now? No. Do I support dog fighting or co ck fights? No. Do I think it's ok to shear sheep for wool? Yes. Do I like PETA's ad campaigns? NO. How's that for "shallow thinking"?

In my world everything isn't black or white.

[wilray]

07:43 PM on 08/28/2009

Hey, I could have written this.

[regulargal]

12:27 AM on 08/30/2009

There is no gray area in a factory farm animals life. It is born into the world as a product...a product that has a central nervous system and feels pain. It has a brain, not different than our in that it has capacity to fear and to mourn. Have you ever heard the moans of a cow separated from it's calf?

Going meatless is a crossover point and what you find on the other side is your humanity. And you stop being selfish. You feel good about doing no harm, causing no pain, for both the animals and the environment.

No hamburger, steak, pork chop or fried chicken can give you that feeling.

Stop thinking with your taste buds.

[AMaitrejean]

06:25 AM on 08/30/2009

I grew up on a ranch. Farm animals are DUMB. They are not humans. From the time I was very small we butchered everything from cows, to pigs, to rabbits and chickens. I have helped my uncle tail dock and shear sheep. This is a way of life whether you accept it in this modern world or not. Since man inhabited this earth he has consumed meat. Family farms were the way of life even up into the mid 20th century. YOU are here because our ancestors ate MEAT. What do you think they did for food? Run to the supermarket for a nice green salad? Dial up the local pizzeria? No. They hunted and raised domesticated animals. I am a carnivore...and I always will be. And the bleeding heart groups like PETA will NEVER convince me otherwise.

My HUMANITY comes from caring about HUMANS. HUMANS can and do feel pain. Humans feel EMOTION. Have you ever heard the sound of a crying child that is STARVING? Have you ever heard the sound of a mother mouring the death of her child from STARVATION? Do you have ANY idea how many people die in this world from HUNGER? One child every 5 SECONDS!

Your priorities are misplaced....go ahead, take a look at this link....maybe you will find your humanity.

http://www.bread.org/learn/hunger-basics/hunger-facts-international.html

[amber15]

02:25 PM on 08/27/2009

Kudos to PETA!! they've got thousands off ppl responding, this isn't a a beauty content, a let's make friends contest or a popularity contest.........you ppl get suckered with this stuff every time.........now WAKE up and start acting responsibly with your weight, your health and your eating practices!

[Patrick Romandy-Simmons]

11:25 AM on 08/27/2009

Except, as well intentioned as PETA may be, their message is simply NOT TRUE. I know a die-hard vegan who is obese, so obviously it's not animal meat that is causing them to pack on the pounds. Not only is this billboard wrong, but it is an irresponsible claim as well. A jar of peanut butter does not contain any animal byproducts, and yet if you consumed an entire jar everyday for a month you'd end up with a considerable weight gain. If PETA wants to encourage people to go vegan I am all for it, but using false claims of miraculous weight loss to do it only makes them look bad.

[REMCAR88]

07:27 AM on 08/27/2009

People Eating Tasty Animals, the way GOD intended it to be.

[EminemsRevenge]

08:51 AM on 08/27/2009

Now THAT's a PETA i can dig:)

It's because of PETA that all healthy food is overpriced!

[Patrick Romandy-Simmons]

11:27 AM on 08/27/2009

Which God? There are so many.

[regulargal]

11:43 AM on 08/27/2009

the one that believes cows are sacred? the other one that commanded thou shall not eat shellfish? the other that forbids pork? in the name of all mythical gods, give this silly argument a rest. either you are compassionate towards all animals, or you eat them.

[AMaitrejean]

06:24 AM on 08/27/2009

I wonder how many PETA supporters wear leather or drive around in cars with leather seats, carry leather handbags, etc. Do they really expect us to believe they only wear plastic shoes?

I will NEVER agree with their campaigns simply by the way they shove their "superior" attitudes in people's faces.

[amber15]

02:23 PM on 08/27/2009

no, your using this as an excuse to keep on supporting the abuse of animals.......your shallow thinking supercedes any common sense here. If one has a strong belief than no matter what other orgs say, do or profess your beliefs will remain the same.........