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PETA banned from the Super Bowl

by Leah Koenig · February 10th, 2008
Animal Care, Food Safety, Meat, Vegetarian

According to PETA, their Kentucky Fried Cruelty advertisement - which focuses on the fast food industry’s blind eye towards animal cruelty - was denied commercial air time on Super Bowl Sunday. 

On the one hand, PETA should have equal right to advertising.  On the other, the ad does not exactly fit into the Super Bowl’s family-friendly image.  What do you think - should the ad have been allowed to play?     

(Warning: PETA’s ad depicts graphic violence, so watch with caution.)

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5 Responses to “PETA banned from the Super Bowl”

  1. Tovah @ Gluten-Free Bay Says:
    February 10th, 2008 at 12:05 pm

    I actually don’t get it - I found it really confusing. What do cops kicking the crap out of a man dressed up as a chicken have to do with animal cruelty and what actually happens to chickens in factory farms (which is what I”m assuming their point is about)? And how could this NOT be construed as libel with someone made to look like the Colonel in the car? I don’t think this is appropriate for family oriented TV, because it’s too violent. However, if they play other types of stuff on family programs that portray people beating the crap out of each other (and I don’t mean football) then I think it’s fair to air this. Otherwise they should play this during a more PG-13 type TV program.

  2. Michael Croland Says:
    February 10th, 2008 at 12:31 pm

    I think the point is to generate interest and get people to visit KentuckyFriedCruelty.com. KFC suppliers abuse chickens in horrible ways in factory farms and slaughterhouses–people should boycott KFC, and the company should implement the changes recommended by its own animal welfare advisors (e.g., not breeding birds to be so top-heavy so they can’t support themselves, not searing off baby birds’ sensitive beaks, not scalding chickens to death in defeathering tanks).

    Tovah, when I watched, I was reminded of scenes from an undercover video from a KFC supplier in which a worker was caught on tape kicking a chicken. Read more about the investigation and watch the video at http://kentuckyfriedcruelty.co.....pride.asp. Here’s an excerpt of what that page says:

    In July 2004, PETA revealed the results of an investigation into a KFC-supplying slaughterhouse in Moorefield, West Virginia, where workers were caught on video stomping on chickens, kicking them, and violently slamming them against floors and walls. Workers also ripped the animals’ beaks off, twisted their heads off, spat tobacco into their eyes and mouths, spray-painted their faces, and squeezed their bodies so hard that the birds expelled feces—all while the chickens were still alive. Dan Rather echoed the views of all kind people when he said on the CBS Evening News, “[T]here’s no mistaking what [the video] depicts: cruelty to animals, chickens horribly mistreated before they’re slaughtered for a fast-food chain.”

  3. lux Says:
    February 10th, 2008 at 1:27 pm

    One of PETA’s standard practices is to go to the extreme in their messaging, knowing that either way they will be able to get publicity out of it. In this case, it was either they got an ad in the SuperBowl, or they got to ride the PR wave from not being allowed to be in the SuperBowl. There have been plenty of similar attempts in the past and undoubtedly will be in the future as well.

    This is the same group that sent activists to stand out in front of schools and give children colorful stickers telling them to not drink milk, after all.

  4. Kerr Says:
    February 10th, 2008 at 1:47 pm

    I support efforts to create and enforce more humane farming practices, but PETA ads have run the gamut from homophobia to racism. There’s no need to support horrific attitudes towards other people in order to get the message across that we must treat animals humanely. In fact, that strategy could backfire; it’s all too easy for me to imagine kids watching this and deciding it’s cool to kick the crap out of household pets, siblings, etc.

  5. Jennie Says:
    February 16th, 2008 at 5:18 am

    I am not surprised that the as was not aired- we all know that advertisements on TV, especially on prime time, are about MONEY and only money. Of course PETA’s ads are dramatic and extreme, the point is to be remembered, to make people think, to make a strong impression. There is a long way to go, and I applaud PETA for it’s efforts. The meat industry, the dairy industry, the diet industry, its all bout money , and I have no illusion that anyone running any of the above actually care about the health or welfare of the animals or humans involved. They care about their financial profit, period.

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