'New York Times' Sexy Chicken Amuses Many, Pisses Off PETA

Sarah DiGregorio wrote an article for the New York Times about chicken skin and how various chefs use it in dishes. It's a good read, but the article has gotten eclipsed by the beautiful yet alarming centerfold photo: a raw chicken that was propped in such a way to make it look, well, seductive.

As one can imagine, it isn't easy to make a raw chicken look sexy, and the photo shoot was "embarrassingly painful" since it was hard to "put the sexy back into a dead bird."

It seems like most people find the photo rather cheeky, but PETA (of course) isn't in on the joke. "When I saw it I just couldn't believe that an editor of the New York Times would find it acceptable," PETA's founder and president Ingrid Newkirk told the Atlantic Wire. "It's necrophilia. It's not amusing. It's just ghastly and sickly."

PETA can think what it wants, but we're more than happy to stick our forks in it.

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Comments

[Karl Wilder]

04:35 PM on 10/03/2011

It is a cute photo.

[Charlotte T]

02:49 PM on 10/03/2011

I think it's quite amazing that they were able to 'pose' the chicken - I don't understand why PETA is upset, the chicken wasn't harmed during the photo shoot - I'm pretty sure it was already dead, ya know?

[frank day]

12:05 PM on 10/02/2011

They should highlight the bugs crawling on the dead flesh.

Salmonella? YUM

[Eli Dirkx]

12:49 PM on 10/03/2011

Salmonella is the reason I'm alive.
True story.

[frank day]

01:46 PM on 10/03/2011

???

[cafecat]

03:31 AM on 10/02/2011

PETA should relax. I just thought it was Lady Gaga.

[chaapai]

02:03 AM on 10/02/2011

I'm not saying a raw chicken is sexy. I do, however; like the ad.

Food is sexy
cooking is sexy
cooking for someone you love is sexy

Eating food that was prepared with passion and skill is sexy. Be it something fancy or simple.

We are a visual species.

I know that I would rather see a picture of a naked chicken over a picture of Paris Hilton eating a hamburger while washing a car. There aint nothing sexy in that at all.

[DesiresSilence]

07:42 AM on 10/03/2011

F+Fed. While I am a vegan, I agree with everything you said. Nothing more attractive than a meal prepared with passion by someone I'm attracted to. Unless it's Paris Hilton doing the cooking, and then, just ewwwww.

[almchrl13]

02:02 AM on 10/02/2011

I loved it and was trying to figure out what kind of head to put on it - Rudy Guiliani

[heboprotagonist]

03:02 PM on 10/01/2011

People Eating Tasty Animals.

And what about vegetables? Don't they have rights, as well? And what about oxygen molecules?, they didn't ask to be part of my life cycle.

[gala1]

02:06 PM on 10/01/2011

Monty Python meets the Food Page.

I'm saving the image to be my christmas card. I'll just play with it-- I love to play with images---and add a wreath or a scarf or something

I just LOVE it!!!
Adding wit to food is totally irresistible.

Just another round in PETA being it's own worst enemy. I perceive PETA as wasting the time it should be spending on food safety awareness on imposing their sanctimonious ideology on those who have zero interest in it. We should be thankful for all food. Veggies die every bit as much as animals do to feed us.

And as for that article. OMG. Gravy in deep fried chicken skin served with roast foie gras and a black pepper biscuit. Heaven on a plate.Do they deliver to the West Coast?
This is going to be my very stop when I get back to NY. Momofuku will just have to wait.
If Recette opens a Seattle branch I have dibs as being first customer

[Dross Cool]

07:56 AM on 10/01/2011

IF THIS LOOKS SEXY TO YOU PEOPLE ,,,,YOU BETTER GET SOME THERAPY , AND QUCIK , OR GO BUY A FLICK

[Susan1964]

07:32 AM on 10/01/2011

The people at PETA have serious issues. When I see that picture I see a marketing tool. They're trying to entice you into eating chicken. It is not trying to make you want to have sex with a dead chicken. If that's the first impression the knuckleheads at PETA get from that picture then they all need serious therapy.

[jrham1108]

06:48 AM on 10/01/2011

I think it looks both good and horrible at the same time. Personally I hate how chickens are treated. But I do love to eat them. I don't think anything should suffer unnecessarily, but I understand that many things die in the nature kingdom. Somewhere this morning, an animal is being ripped apart by another animal. This is 'nature' and normal for most things in the world. They kill to survive. But to make something live out most of its life like the way many of our farmed animals are made to, is just plain cruel. Oh! And by the way. This picture made me realize for the first time, that 'the chicken breast' looks like a big tongue. LOL That is some kind of sign I think.

[Vanderbil Covington]

06:38 AM on 10/01/2011

The fact a dead chicken is being portrayed as sexualized, is pathetic enough, but what kind of mindest would even conceptualize this?

[Zarggg]

12:35 PM on 10/02/2011

Probably the same people who understand that they're not actually suggesting we have sex with a dead chicken. Which you clearly have misunderstood.

[singermhg]

06:36 AM on 10/01/2011

I would understand PETA if it was a live chicken. But, REALLY...the thing is dead. I may roast me next chicken in that position. It would look really cool on the table. Wait a minute, Thanksgiving is soon. Guess what my turkey is going to look like.

[iblycan]

06:18 AM on 10/01/2011

Groups like PETA make me sick. While they are busy banning animals from being used for food millions of people are starving. Dog, cat, rat, and horse are food animal in many nations and can be used to relieve huner world wide.

[Ossit]

04:57 AM on 10/01/2011

So funny. Put this as a Playboy centerfold and I bet a few people would get a kick out of it. Put a string bikini and voilà Sports Illustrated cover. This 'chic' is cute.