PETA's 'whale' billboard has the InterTwitter Fraternal Council mad
[Sound of gavel tapping] I hereby call this meeting of the InterTwitter Fraternal Council to order!
Brothers and Sisters, we have come to call your attention to the latest marketing campaign by the most irreverent fraternal organization on our campus of environmental activism. I know, we all agreed that the whole Alicia Silverstone 'oh my skin is so beautiful because of eating vegetables' campaign was, while a little bit of a stretch, hot. And Eva Mendes naked to protest the sale of furs? Again, we let it go on the "hotness" exception to the flagrant marketing rule.
But today, something has come into view that really qualifies to have Rho Epsilon Tau Alpha, or in your American language, PETA, kicked off Fraternity Row for good. In a press release filled with offensive imagery that has traditionally been used to insult women around the keg of the cheapest light beer at fraternity parties, PETA has defended its decision to display billboards in Jacksonville, Florida with an image of the midsection of an overweight woman in a bikini and a slogan that has previously only been found in places such as, say, the bathroom wall at the lowest dive bar in town.
We will read the first paragraph of your press release into the record. "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. The ad shows a woman whose "blubber" is spilling over the sides of her swimsuit bottom and features the tagline "Save the Whales. Lose the Blubber: Go Vegetarian. PETA."
As if to say, "We know it's not OK to make fun of an obese woman to her face. But it's OK if it's to her back, right?"
Here is what the other members of the ITFC are saying: "totally gobsmacked.""just when you think PETA can't get any more offensive." and "this is what PETA is all about: getting attention."
Well, you've got our attention, PETA. And we are reminded why we don't like you. It's not funny to make fun of people's weight problems, and to assert you know why they're occurring is wrong-headed and judgmental and, well, just like you. And so we're suspending your charter, as of today, and we're all going to go and eat some bacon!
http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,entry&id=423983&pid=423982&uts=1250543265
http://cdn.channel.aol.com/cs_feed_v1_6/csfeedwrapper.swf
Animals in the News
Recently, PETA has defended its decision to display billboards in Jacksonville, Florida with an image of the midsection of an overweight woman in a bikini and a slogan that has previously only been found in places such as, the bathroom wall at the dive-iest bar in town. For more stories about animals, click through this gallery.
Schalk van Zuydam, AP
Schalk van Zuydam, AP
