Group Says Unhealthy Advertising Gimmick Should Be Put to Rest

For Immediate Release:
July 9, 2009

Contact:
Nicole Matthews 757-622-7382
 
Madison, Wis. -- With the passing Monday of Oscar Mayer's retired chair Oscar G. Mayer, PETA has sent a letter to Nick Meriggioli, president of Oscar Mayer, urging him to bury the company's Wienermobile along with Mayer.

"For years, the Wienermobile has been driving kids toward a meat-laden diet that can increase the risk of making them fat and sick," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "The best thing that parents can do for their kids, for the animals who are raised for food, and for the environment is to stock up on delicious, eco-friendly veggie dogs and burgers and bid farewell to the Wienermobile for good."

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

PETA's letter to Nick Meriggioli follows.

July 9, 2009

Nick Meriggioli
President
Oscar Mayer
Kraft Foods, Inc.

Dear Mr. Meriggioli,

We send our condolences on the death of Oscar Mayer's retired chair, Oscar G. Mayer. As we all know, laying someone to rest can be an occasion to examine a life as well as an opportunity to send a positive message.

The Wienermobile travels around the country and entices children to try Oscar Mayer meats that can set them on the road to developing life-threatening illnesses. For example, you are likely aware of Harvard researchers' findings that children who frequently eat cured meats like bacon and hot dogs are at a much higher risk of developing leukemia, while kids who eat more vegetables and soy actually have a reduced risk. And, according to the American Dietetic Association and the Dietitians of Canada, vegetarians are less prone to heart disease, certain types of cancer, diabetes, and obesity than meat-eaters are.

Children are naturally fond of animals and are shocked when they learn about the pain and misery that pigs, cows, and chickens suffer in the process of being turned into wieners and other flesh foods sold by your company. People who know pigs compare them to dogs because they are friendly, loyal, fun-loving and intelligent. Pigs are also naturally very clean -- they avoid, if at all possible, soiling their living areas, an impossibility on factory farms, where they are forced to live amid their own waste. Pigs killed for Oscar Mayer hot dogs and bologna have their tails and testicles cut off without any painkillers. They are trucked through all weather extremes to slaughterhouses, where many pigs are immersed in tanks of scalding-hot water while still conscious.

Please do the right thing for children and animals. Seize this moment to bury the Wienermobile along with Mr. Mayer -- and perhaps go a step further by creating a new line of family- and animal-friendly Oscar Mayer products, such as "phony baloney" and veggie dogs. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Tracy Reiman
Executive Vice President