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

Published on December 4, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (8)
Filed under Animals, Controversy, Nudd, PETA

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

Published on November 23, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Animals, Gianatasio, Matter, PETA, Thanksgiving

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

Published on September 23, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Animals, Celebrity endorsements, Nudd, PETA

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

Published on September 2, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Animals, Celebrity endorsements, Nudd, PETA

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

Published on August 18, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (8)
Filed under Animals, Cullers, PETA

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

Published on May 20, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Animals, Celebrity endorsements, Kiefaber, PETA

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

Published on April 9, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Celebrity endorsements, Kiefaber, PETA

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

Published on March 4, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under Animals, Nudd, PETA

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

Published on January 28, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (16)
Filed under Controversy, Gianatasio, NBC, PETA, Super Bowl

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

Published on January 13, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (6)
Filed under Animals, Griner, PETA

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

Published on December 11, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (6)
Filed under Animals, Celebrity endorsements, Nudd, PETA

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

Published on November 10, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under Ad Council, Gianatasio, PETA

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

Published on October 17, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (5)
Filed under MTV, Nudd, PETA

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

Published on September 24, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (10)
Filed under Ben & Jerry's, Gianatasio, PETA

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

Published on September 23, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Kiefaber, PETA

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

Published on August 7, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Nudd, PETA

Corey Feldman keeps clothes on for PETA

Seeing as AdFreak has become a meeting place for Corey Haim fans, it seems only fair to give Corey Feldman some attention, too. Here he is in a new PETA ad with his wife Susie, who, as Copyranter points out, will appear nude in the next issue of Playboy. Haim fans everywhere will be relieved that Feldman wasn’t offered a role in PETA’s “Pleather yourself” campaign.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on July 16, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under Nudd, PETA

PETA latches on to pregnancy-pact story

A PETA ad in which the cast keeps its clothes on? It's true, but the animal-rights group still manages to court controversy with its “Sex Talk” PSA. Apparently inspired by the headline-grabbing Gloucester, Mass., teen pregnancy pact, it shows a mom and dad encouraging their daughter to have sex with anyone and everyone. The no-frills spot is nicely cast. Dad’s whiney, offhand delivery of lines about disposing of unwanted kids (“We can leave ’em in the shelter, dump ’em in the street, whatever”) is priceless. The point comes at the spot’s close: “Parents shouldn’t act this way. Neither should people with dogs and cats. Always spay or neuter.” They mean spay or neuter the dogs and cats, not the kids.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on June 27, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (5)
Filed under Gianatasio, PETA

Yeah, another naked person in a PETA ad

PETA sympathizers across the board seem to enjoying going naked regardless of the cause—anti-fur or anti-whatever. Here, we have the Spanish singer Alaska protesting bullfighting in a revealing ad unveiled this week. The headline reads, “The naked truth. Bullfighting is cruel.” “We need to stick some little banderillas in the backs of those who think that the bull does not suffer,” Alaska said at a press event Monday. (Ignore the fact that Alaska actually seems to be somewhat enjoying said treatment in the ad.) Here’s a piece on the dilemmas of modern-day bullfighting from The New York Times’s latest Play magazine: “Bullfighting Is Dead! Long Live the Bullfight!”

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on June 4, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (5)
Filed under Freaky, Nudd, PETA

PETA brings its KFC horror show to Boston

KFC's really been getting battered lately. First, Moby's pimp-chicken attacked. Then Troma produced Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead. Now, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has hit the airwaves with what the Boston Herald calls “disturbing new ads depicting the bespectacled Colonel Sanders as a sadistic torture monger.” You might remember this as the campaign that FOX refused to run during the Super Bowl. The Herald continues: “The ‘Kentucky Fried Cruelty’ ads ... show a man dressed like the grandfatherly Sanders watching approvingly as guards ruthlessly beat half-human, half-chicken creatures cooped up in a Guantanamo-like prison camp.” Guantanamo-like, eh? Why then, it’d be un-American not to eat at KFC!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on May 13, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Gianatasio, KFC, PETA

Jenna Jameson thinks hard about pleather

Here's Jenna Jameson channeling Bettie Page in the "Pleather yourself" PETA ad that we mentioned in our Twitter feed last week. There’s also a video of Jameson talking about how the documentary Earthlings turned her on to animal activism. Jameson is not known primarily for her intellectual pursuits, but she does say, at the end of the video, “If you’re not able to provoke thought, then what are we really here for?”

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on March 11, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Nudd, PETA

Eva Mendes next up in PETA fur campaign

PETA has gotten another celebrity, Eva Mendes, to take her clothes off. According to some reports, PETA is holding some kind of launch event with Mendes on Thursday in Rockefeller Plaza—but police have reportedly asked the group not to reveal the exact time, fearing a “mob scene.” It’s currently 23 degrees in New York, so it’s doubtful Mendes will strip down at the event. And with the gigantic tree up now in the Plaza, hopes of avoiding a mob scene should have long since evaporated. Mendes says she was inspired to do the ad by her beloved pet dog. “Killing a poor animal and wearing her fur isn’t cool,” she says. “Respecting all life forms is cool.”

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on December 6, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (6)
Filed under PETA

Steve-O hops into PETA’s naked cavalcade

Man, it’s so weird seeing Steve-O from Jackass working on behalf of PETA, an organization that you’d think he’d never run out of ways to offend. I have an easier time picturing Steve-O wearing a fur coat for the sheer audacity of it than dropping trou to help save the animals. Then again, as Daily Stab points out, it doesn’t take much to get him out of his clothes. I’d also get that star on his backside checked out if I were him. It could be trouble down the road. Also: Here’s Steve-O doing the sand chug in an Orbitz commercial.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on October 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (8)
Filed under Kiefaber, PETA

Alicia Silverstone strips down for PETA ads

“I’m Alicia Silverstone, and I’m a vegetarian. There’s nothing in the world that’s changed me as much as this. I feel so much better and have so much more energy. It’s so amazing.” That’s the voiceover of Silverstone’s new spot for PETA, in which the actress appears nude. See a print ad here. She’s talking about vegetarianism. I had a strange hunch that not that many people were paying attention to the script, so I thought I’d write it out here. I’ve got the copywriter’s crack. I mean, back. Did I say crack? I’m very sorry. I’ve got the copywriter’s back. Be kind to animals, eat a salad. Related thought: Did Gisele just crawl out of the same swimming pool? Now that would be an ad!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on September 19, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (5)
Filed under PETA

Surprisingly, Holly Madison gets naked

This is nitpicking, but isn’t PETA’s “I’d rather go naked than wear fur” campaign a bit less effective when they get celebrities to pose who take their clothes off for a living anyway? Sure, Holly Madison, the Playboy model and star of The Girls Next Door on E!, would rather go naked than wear fur. But she’d rather go naked than do most things. If you got, say, Condoleezza Rice involved in something like this, you’d know she wasn’t just doing it out of habit. Holly has also done a companion video for PETA, which you can see here.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on April 12, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
Filed under PETA