PETA composts 'Veggie Love' with outtakes

"Why don't you pick a vegetable and show us how much you love it." If I had a dime for every time I've heard that on line at the bank and at job interviews. Actually, it's the opening line of this 90-second clip from PETA, which is apparently running short on original concepts for "banned" Super Bowl ads. The animal-rights group goes back to the well with this garden-variety footage of hot bikini babes (and a doughy guy named Joey) auditioning for its 2009 "Veggie Love" Super Bowl spot. NBC, you may recall, rejected that spot, which featured hotties getting quasi-biblical with produce and the tagline, "Vegetarians have better sex." The zucchini fellating and celery-stalk spanking in these newly released outtakes is similarly NSFW, but more low-rent and goofy. PETA is harvesting plenty of publicity by releasing the clip to BuzzFeed. Some say women don't rub tomatoes and radishes all over themselves in real life. Well, you haven't been to my Super Bowl parties. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to start filling the bathtub with guacamole.

Filed under Gianatasio, PETA, Super Bowl
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PETA drags dead dogs around in latest spot

In one of its best or worst ads ever, depending on your point of view, PETA piles on the guilt thicker than Fido's latest miscue on the carpet—claiming that for each dog people buy, another dies in a shelter. Whether that's true or not, seeing people dragging around dog-size body bags on leashes is highly unnerving. Even oddball touches, like stopping at a fire hydrant, just add to the unease. The final shot of a canine-sack sadly bobbing its head out of a car window is as potent and manipulative as it gets. That's one doggie bag I wouldn't take home.

Filed under Animals, Death, Gianatasio, PETA
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Under fire, Dodge makes a chimp disappear

Dodge has caved to PETA's demands and altered—though in a funny, possibly tongue-in-cheek way—a commercial in which a chimp in an Evel Knievel costume detonates a bunch of confetti. Check out the original and revised spots below. The idea of the original was that a monkey is just about the only thing that could make Dodge's "tent event" more amazing. Instead of rethinking the spot after PETA complained, Dodge (and its agency, Wieden + Kennedy) just digitally stripped out the chimp, and the revised version refers to him as an "invisible monkey"—a change that might technically solve the problem but seems less than sincere in addressing the core issue. (It works great in the context of the ad, though, as an invisible monkey is even more amazing than a regular monkey!) The idea that Dodge might be needling PETA a bit also comes across in the revised voiceover (from Dexter's Michael C. Hall). "Oh wait, there's an invisible monkey," he says. "Unbelievable." Read more of the backstory at the Los Angeles Times. Via Jalopnik.

Filed under Animals, Automotive, Controversy, Dodge, Nudd, PETA, Wieden + Kennedy
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Baby seals take beating in PETA Canada ad

This PETA footage of baby seals being chased and viciously clubbed to death as "O Canada" plays in the background is about as intense and disturbing as it gets. The weak-stomached might have a reaction not unlike that seen in last week's U.K. binge-drinking PSA. Still, I feel some sympathy for the hunters. How else are they supposed to get the job done? Electric chairs are impractical on an ice floe, as are lethal injections, as the poison would freeze solid inside the syringe. As for all that blood and gore marring the pristine Canadian wilderness, up north they have a special method of hosing away such unsightly stains.

Filed under Animals, Canada, Gianatasio, PETA
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Bea Arthur appears in posthumous PETA ad

In light of the Aaron Jamison story, PETA's treatment of death seems particularly tasteless. Its latest anti-factory-farming campaign—aimed at McDonald's and running today in the fast-food chain's hometown paper, the Chicago Tribune—uses a photograph of late PETA supporter Bea Arthur, who died a year ago Sunday, with the headline, "McCruelty. It's enough to make Bea Arthur roll over in her grave." See the full ad here. The pithy first sentence of copy reads: "Death couldn't stop this Golden Girl from fighting the Golden Arches' cruel slaughter practices." The New York Times reports that the ad has the tacit approval of Arthur's son, "who especially liked that the copy was in Bea's irreverent voice."

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Filed under Animals, Kiefaber, PETA
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PETA gets away with doggie Hitler-tisement

Hitler rears his ugly head all the time in rogue ads. Just in the past year, we seen him having sex in an AIDS awareness campaign, swimming with sperm in a condom ad, and morphed with James Dean in an ad touting a retailer's wide selection of books and movies. Now, PETA is doing a little Hitler-tising of its own, giving a dog a Hitler mustache in a new ad as a way of questioning the health and well-being of pedigree dogs in the U.K. Naturally, there have been complaints, but the U.K.'s ad watchdog has ruled that the ad is not offensive. "We acknowledged that the image and text were emotive but did not consider the ad was likely to cause serious or widespread offense or to mislead," says a spokesman. PETA, of course, had its own quotes packaged and ready to go, too. "It is not our ad that is offensive but the false and dangerous belief that some breeds or races are superior to others," says a rep. UPDATE: In today's other bit of PETA news, Nadya Suleman, aka Octomom, is allowing PETA to place the ad shown below on the lawn of her home, in exchange for $5,000 and "a one month's supply of veggie burgers and veggie dogs for her whole family." What a deal.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under Animals, Controversy, Europe, Hitler, Nudd, PETA
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Dave Navarro undresses for PETA campaign

Dave Navarro has resurfaced from whatever he's been doing to pose naked for PETA. See the full ad here. It's part of the group's "Ink, not mink" campaign, urging people to wear tattoos instead of pelts. Navarro assures PETA that he's in it for the long haul. Uh, didn't he and Carmen Electra wear leather pants and matching fur coats all throughout the '90s? It could have been two different shameless attention whores—my memory of those years is hazy at best—but I'm pretty sure it was them.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Filed under Animals, Celebrity endorsements, Kiefaber, PETA
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PETA finally latches on to Tiger Woods saga

It took a little while, but PETA has finally rolled out a Tiger Woods-related ad online, under the guise of pretending to want to put it up as a billboard in Florida. Obviously, Woods didn't agree to this (even if he might agree with the headline), and his lawyers surely won't stand idly by while his image gets used without his permission. As of this writing, they haven't responded yet. On the plus side, at least Tiger isn't naked here. There's no telling whether the public will find this idea as "fun [and] tongue-in-cheek" as PETA does. Woods will have difficulty seeing the humor in it, particularly since PETA's "Too much sex" campaign (advocating the spaying and neutering of pets) usually features porn stars like Ron Jeremy and Jenna Jameson. Woods's sex-addition therapy presumably forbids him from associating with folks like that in future.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Filed under Animals, Celebrity endorsements, Golf, Kiefaber, PETA
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Bethenny's PETA ad turns heads, stomachs

PETA has gotten Bethenny Frankel, one of Bravo's Real Housewives, to be its latest nude model. Click here to see the full ad. Frankel is an inspired choice. She's old enough (39) that everyone is wondering if the photo was airbrushed, which is giving the ad much more play online. (Frankel says it wasn't, or at least not much, and even sent an untouched version of the pic to Us Weekly to prove it.) Also a bonus: When you get one Real Housewife to pose nude, chances are always good that another Real Housewife will step up and admit that she "threw up a little in my mouth" upon seeing it.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under Animals, Celebrity endorsements, Nudd, PETA
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PETA angel doesn't fly with angry Catholics

Click here to see Joanna Krupa's two angel PETA ads. Yeah, they've gotten the Catholic League riled up. Bill Donohue says: "PETA is a fraud. It also has a long and disgraceful record of exploiting Christian and Jewish themes to hawk its ugly services. Those who support this organization sorely need a reality check. They also need a course in Ethics 101." Krupa replies: "As a practicing Catholic, I am shocked that the Catholic League is speaking out against my PETA ads, which I am very proud of. I'm doing what the Catholic Church should be doing, working to stop senseless suffering of animals, the most defenseless of God's creations. I am a voice for innocent animals who are being neglected and dumped by the millions at shelters. In my heart I know that Jesus would never condone the suffering that results when dogs and cats are allowed to breed."

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under Animals, Controversy, Nudd, PETA
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PETA Thanksgiving always awkward as hell

Ever wonder what a PETA Thanksgiving would be like? Of course not. But it turns out it's a serious downer, as we find out in this spot from ad agency Matter and director Dave Laden. The little girl asked to say grace ambushes the family: "Dear God. Thank you for the turkey we are about to eat, and for the turkey farms, where they pack them into dark tiny little sheds for their whole lives. Thank you for when they burn their feathers off while they're still alive, and for when the turkey gets killed by people who think it's fun to stomp on their little turkey heads." Will someone send this brat off to bed without her supper? She might be onto something, though. Skipping the turkey gets you to the whipped cream and pumpkin pie faster. And no, the cream was not harmed during the whipping. Lighten up, PETA!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Animals, Gianatasio, Matter, PETA, Thanksgiving
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Karina Smirnoff dancing exotically for PETA

PETA has gotten Karina Smirnoff of Dancing With the Stars fame to strip down for its latest naked-celebrity ad. See the full ad here. The 31-year-old Russian beauty, who is a reformed fur wearer, follows in the naked footsteps of another DWTS alum, Steve-O, who struck this exuberant PETA pose back in 2007. (Hopefully Tom DeLay won't get any ideas.) Smirnoff says: "You have a choice as an individual ... whether to make a statement that you do support killing animals or make a statement when you don't. And you can still be as chic as you can possibly want to be." 

—Posted by Tim Nudd

See also:
PETA now just hiring professional strippers
PETA loves animals, isn't so fond of women

Filed under Animals, Celebrity endorsements, Nudd, PETA
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Naomi Campbell falls off the anti-fur wagon

Fifteen years after starring with four other supermodels in a high-profile anti-fur ad for PETA (posted below), Naomi Campbell apparently can resist the stuff no longer. The 39-year-old is the star of a new campaign for designer Dennis Basso, in which she is seen lounging around in a series of coats made from Russian sable. Heather Mills is among the hordes calling Campbell a hypocrite, but Campbell, true to form, doesn't seem to care much what other people think. "As for that Heather whatshername saying she'd written to me to complain about me wearing fur and I'd never replied, I never received a letter, nothing," she says.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under Animals, Celebrity endorsements, Nudd, PETA
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PETA loves animals, isn't so fond of women

PETA may love animals, but they don't have much respect for women. It's always been surprising to me how PETA seems to get a pass on caging women, forcing them to fellate vegetables and veggie dogs, and attaching them to billboards in their underwear—stuff that would be decried by feminists if it were organized by a brand like Axe. Well, they might have finally crossed the line. A new billboard in Florida that shows an obese woman with the phrase, "Save the whales. Lose the blubber: Go vegetarian," has been drawing a lot of fire. (While most people are cool with the objectification of hot naked chicks, they apparently draw the line at making fun of fat people.) PETA defends the ad, saying in a press release, "Trying to hide your thunder thighs and balloon belly is no day at the beach," and pointing out that vegetarians are, on average, lighter than meat eaters. I find it interesting that in light of the new billboard, a lot of people seem to be waking up to how sizeist and sexist PETA has been toward women in the past. Check out The Onion's amusing take and the public shaming happening on Twitter. Will this end their divisive, shockvertising ways? I doubt it. I hear that vegetarians are also, on average, more shameless than meat eaters.

—Posted by Rebecca Cullers

Filed under Animals, Cullers, PETA
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Kara DioGuardi wings it in 'Angels' PETA ad

Propitious timing for PETA, as its latest ad stars American Idol's Kara DioGuardi, who dons angel's wings as part of the "Angels for Animals" campaign. And are we hallucinating, or is the accompanying video actually somewhat sane? "Be aware when you see an animal in the street [who's] wounded or ... looks lost," she says in her Angels for Animals ad, then goes on to advocate spaying/neutering and caution against crating. Who'd have expected such grounded advice from a judge on a talent show that prides itself on being mean to untalented, semi-amateur pop singers? I'm still waiting for her to compare me to Hitler for eating meat, but PETA might just disappoint me this time.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Filed under Animals, Celebrity endorsements, Kiefaber, PETA
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Cloris Leachman puts on cabbage for PETA

PETA has finally hit its advertising stride, and all it took was draping Cloris Leachman in cabbage. The 82-year-old Oscar-winning actress (for 1971's The Last Picture Show) "sang and joked her way through the entire day" of the shoot, according to PETA, "taking just a few moments to get serious with the story behind her choice to give up meat more than 40 years ago." Gotta be honest, we didn't see this coming. Granted, the ad seems to have more to do with advancing a lifestyle than saving animals, but Leachman's stately bearing makes that classy instead of preachy. And it's good to know she "was dressed in the freshest produce available." It sure beats seeing her naked.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

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PETA now just hiring professional strippers

PETA continues its naked-people anti-fur campaign with this ad starring strippers from Rick's Cabaret. See the full ad here. The animal-rights group says Rick's is "the only strip joint on the Nasdaq," so you know it must be a classy joint. By hiring strippers, though, PETA finally renders this whole concept pretty nonsensical. The whole point was that the people in the "Go naked" ads don't normally go naked—thus, they're taking some kind of provocative stand for their moral position. For these ladies, it's another day at the office. (Likewise for previous PETA models Holly Madison and Jenna Jameson.) Still, it's a good play for Rick's, whose stock isn't as hot as its talent: It's at a 52-week low of $2.54, down from $25-plus last year.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

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NBC, won't you please take PETA's money?

Sure, companies have groused about their spots getting banned from the Super Bowl for years. But this year it's full-blown PR-stunt mania. I've gotten releases about a half-dozen such ads, and I've seen a few more on the Web. Were these commercials really submitted for approval? Who knows for sure. Publicity's what their makers crave, so I won't mention any names. Well, one name: PETA, because its spot—though clearly designed not to air—is way better than most of what will actually appear during the game. That is one lucky stalk of broccoli! Anyway, instead of being prudish, I wish NBC had accepted the ad, charged PETA $3 million and put those whining whale watchers outta business when they couldn't pay. Then we could all wear fur coats, eat veal and watch football in peace.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Controversy, Gianatasio, NBC, PETA, Super Bowl
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Would you hook, filet and eat a 'sea kitten'?

In one of the most ambitious rebranding efforts ever, PETA has embarked on a plan to refer to fish as "sea kittens." Why? Because who would want to snare, gut and chow down on a sea kitten? According to PETA's Save the Sea Kittens site, fish have been the victim of tragically bad PR: "When your name can also be used as a verb that means driving a hook through your head, it's time for a serious image makeover." The campaign's actually been around a few months, but it got some renewed buzz in recent days when an Australian news story made the rounds on Digg. The call to action is for you to e-mail the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, asking him to "stop promoting the hunting of sea kittens (otherwise known as 'fishing')." So, what creature should be rebranded next? I vote for the dung beetle. So what if it eats feces? We shouldn't rub its face in it—no matter how much it might enjoy the process.

—Posted by David Griner

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Khloe Kardashian baring her booty for PETA

It isn't Kim Kardashian, but it's the next best thing: her sister Khloe, going naked in this new PETA ad to protest fur. See the full ad here, which includes a whole lot more butt. On her Web site, Khloe writes that the headline "is pretty fitting considering that I'm not exactly wearing much in the ad. LOL." The campaign was unveiled Wednesday at the corner of Melrose and North Harper Avenues in L.A. (photos here), where Khloe might have undermined the effort a tad by admitting, "Everyone in the family wears fur except me."

—Posted by Tim Nudd

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No more chimps and gorillas in advertising?

Prodded by the well-meaning folks at PETA, the Ad Council says it no longer supports the use of great apes in ads (including chimpanzees and gorillas) because the creatures are often treated badly. PETA vows that it will be "following up with the CEOs of all the top U.S. ad agencies that sit on the Ad Council's executive board, requesting that they follow suit." Many execs will probably roll their eyes and crack wise ("But most of my creatives are monkeys. Ha ha ha!") when that call comes through. But frankly, PETA's doing all of us a favor. Apes are just intelligent enough to unionize one day and bring commercial production grinding to a halt. And their desire to subjugate humankind in a post-apocalyptic world has been well documented, so why piss them off ahead of time? Via Adrants.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

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Not shockingly, Danity Kane strips for PETA

Yes, more naked PETA people. This time it's the members of Danity Kane, the girl group that won MTV's Making the Band 3. The ad is getting more play than it might have otherwise because Aubrey O'Day (center), the group's most high-profile member, got booted out of the band this week. Apparently because she'd rather go naked a bit too often.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under MTV, Music, Nudd, PETA
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PETA asks Ben & Jerry's to use human milk

Ah, PETA. Always milking an issue for all it's worth. When it's not putting celebrity breasts in its ads, it's thinking up other ways to conscript mammary glands for the cause. Case in point: It just suggested to Ben & Jerry's that it replace the cow's milk used in its ice cream with human milk. The group probably figured that since Ben & Jerry's is based in Vermont, that it might actually go for it. Well, Vermont can be pretty wacky, but less so than Switzerland, apparently, where a restaurant has actually started buying breast milk from nursing moms to use as a substitute for the some of the cow's milk in its dishes. (Switzerland?! That sounds awfully Swedish to me.) A Ben & Jerry's rep says: "We applaud PETA's novel approach to bringing attention to an issue, but we believe a mother's milk is best used for her child." Even so, if they come out with a Mother's Milkshake flavor anytime soon, I'll pass.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Ben & Jerry's, Gianatasio, PETA
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Japanese singer/actress joins PETA parade

I have no idea who Aya Sugimoto is, but she's hot and apparently doesn't like to wear fur, or sometimes clothes. She would seem to be perfect for PETA, then, following in the proud, naked footsteps of Holly Madison and Steve-O. (See the full, mildy NSFW Sugimoto photo here.) Still, it's possible PETA didn't vet Sugimoto properly, because she admits to still wearing leather—shocking behavior that PETA has also tried to stamp out (with help from porn stars). But are these ads even about fur or leather anymore? Not that we mind seeing naked women, but they're almost not worth the moralizing.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

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Beard swimming for U.S. in naked Olympics

Another day, another Olympian going old-school by taking her clothes off just in time for the Games. This time it's American swimmer Amanda Beard, who won’t let a few unusually healthy-looking Britons get all the attention for going naked. Beard has stripped down on behalf of PETA to give the animals some love—something she’s already done, actually, by posing for FHM. (She also did a Playboy pictorial, for which she wasn’t asked to tactfully cover a breast.) Beard, 26, is pursuing her eighth medal in Beijing, and also has a shot at being named the Hottest American Olympian.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

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