Say No to Pot (roast)

Written by PETA

Posted 05-08-2007

19 Comments

So the Marketing Department just had our weekly meeting a couple of hours ago, and, as often happens, we got to reminiscing about some of PETA's old marketing initiatives. The conversation went a little like this:

Tracy: What ever happened to that "Say No to Pot (roast)" feature we used to have? That was so funny!

Joel: Um, I made sure that was removed from all of our websites, never to see the light of day again.

I'm reserving judgment—but feel free to decide for yourselves: Was this a good idea?

Tags:

leather, fur, wool, animals, pot, nude, roast, lennon, princeton, tray

Recent Comments

Maya commented:

5-10-2007 12:13 PM

Well said Cuckoo4tofu I feel the same frustration when people have the means to simply choose a humane product and don't. I'm going back to school for conservation biology so I deal with that frustration every day. But I think progress is possible. I believe that whether or not negative campaigning works is a simple matter of scientific proof. Here in Massachusetts Deval Patrick was told that quite simply attack ads work. He still refused to do them. He won. He is now the first black governor in the state of Massachusetts. I do have to say that most people don't need proof forced on them. You'd have to be brain dead and living in a cave to not know that factory farming is cruel and bad for your health. If you don't believe me visit the food blogs like Michael Ruhlman's they discuss this stuff every day. People know about circuses dog abuse etc. Now they need to hear about alternatives that are accessable enjoyable and fit into their schedule. Shoving nasty images in their face will give them the perfect excuse to remain in denial. Fun and creative images will get their attention. I agree with you completely that charities do need to show real images of suffering somewhere in the literature so people can be well informed. That's really important. I just think that putting it on the front page is a mistake. Peace!
Cuckoo4tofu commented:

5-10-2007 12:29 AM

Maya Let me rephrase my earlier statement people tend to pretend they live in Disneyland when it comes to certain situations that are more in their control where they are playing a part in doing harm. I am not talking about school shootings or a death in the family but rather circumstances where people have the ability to make alternative choices to the choices they are already making for instance where they can choose to buy vegan products over animal derivedexploited products can choose to buy conflictfree diamonds over blood diamonds fair tradeunion made clothing over sweatshop made clothing etc.. People generally try to ignore what happens behind closed doors in big businesses so that they dont feel guilty about the purchases they make. In this case it is justified to show them evidence of what happens behind the closed doors of industries that exploit animals and humans and yes it will often be graphic and unsettling. You mentioned charities and even charities use graphic images and videos to spread awareness of their cause and to get donations. I am in no way supporting or referring to the youll burn in hell if you dont donate type campaigns but campaigns showing the facts. More people will donate to food drives for thirdworld countries if they see the starving people for themselves and more people will convert to vegetarianism if they see proof of the abuse that goes on in livestock farming. However this is not to say that campaigns should limit themselves to negativity they should also show the positive result of gaining peoples support. As I have said before there are different people out there and different campaigning tactics should be used. Also campaigns shouldnt be so harsh that they turn people away but then they shouldnt be so sensitive to the public that they are not taken seriously. There should be a balance of negative and positive and showing people the bad and then the good that comes from their support is the best way a campaign can have success.
K commented:

5-9-2007 9:28 PM

Haha I chuckled when I read the blog title! I think it is clever and funny. I do think SAY fits better in place of VOTE though. While I don't see anything offensive with the actual slogan.. I do see how "Parents who feed meat to their children are drug pushers to their own kids" could offend. While vegetarians would obviously know this is referring to the antibiotics given to the animals.. I VERY HIGHLY DOUBT a nonvegetarian will get this andor not get offended.. esp. coming from PETA. Just that one sentence.. but good slogan!
Canaduck commented:

5-9-2007 3:51 PM

There are a lot of good and thoughtful comments today from everybody. Thanks for your compliment MayaI enjoy your posts as well and your blog is really interesting.
Lucas Solowey commented:

5-9-2007 2:49 PM

hahaahahaha loves it!!! its amazing. so funny and clever. very tongue in cheek. i say plaster that billboard in san francisco in the Haight District!!!!
Jaclyn commented:

5-9-2007 2:14 PM

I like the ad. Maya who is offering no alternatives? Peta is full of animal product alternatives. At a first glance I don't think meat eaters want to read about tofu and veggie dogs. Get their attention with a good slogan. That's what the Vote No to Pot roast line does.
Maya commented:

5-9-2007 1:55 PM

Cuckoo4tofu great name I'm glad we're having a discussion about this. I have to say it's not really true. Most people do not live in Disenyland. Look around you. Katrina school shootings wars Bush suffering. Leukemia skin cancer and lung cancer are skyrocketing. Most people ARE NOT living in Disenyland. Most people have at least one tragedy in their lives on a regular basis. It's very easy and convenient to think of people who make animals suffer as some kind of overprivelleged protected snobs. But you and I both know that most people are not like that. The reason so many animals are suffering is because there are so many other problems in the world and people feel overwhelmed. The attitude of "I'm going to cure those people of their ignorance" is dangerous and counterproductive. Think of your own life. Think of a charity that you don't have time for like a charity to buy instruments for the musicians who lost everything to hurricaine Katrina. Now you care but you don't have instruments to give. Imagine they write you a nasty letter and make you feel terrible for not donating. Isn't that obnoxious to make you feel guilty just because you don't happen to have a guitar to donate? Wouldn't it be better for the charity to send you photos of Louisiana musicians playing music together on a sunny day on someone's porch? It sounds hoakey but I bet you would then be inspired to give them money and read about the cause. That's just hypothetical. Of course you may have given money to that very cause but it was just an example. I'm not trying to preach to you just trying to suggest another scenario Please visit me on my blog sometime. Peace.
Colleen commented:

5-9-2007 1:54 PM

i like it. it's think it's cute and clever.
Cuckoo4tofu commented:

5-9-2007 12:27 PM

Maya I agree that organizations should always initially put forth positive campaigning efforts that "don't give people nightmares." However for those who don't want to know those who try to turn away the people who dispose animal rights literature without even reading it or taking it seriously are the ones who would do well by having some nightmares. Their patterns of ignorance and tendencies to believe that life is just a big Disney animated fairy tale need to be broken by the nightmarish awakening that millions of animals are forced to endure every day. There are various types of people out there and so various campaigning tactics are necessary to address animal rights issues in an effective way.
Maya commented:

5-9-2007 11:54 AM

Thanks for backing me up guys in your comments. Canaduck I've seen your comments before always enjoy reading them... Quwen good question. I've never known PETA to be "shy" about anything! So I'm not sure. When I was in college and working at my first animal shelter I got mail from a rather obscure animal rights group. I was excited to see what they had to say and to support them. Well I opened the envelope and the first thing I saw was a huge photo of an elephant that had had its entire face chopped off with a machete. It gave me nightmares for years. I'm not kidding. The message inside basically told me that I was a sadistic jerk if I didn't send them money to help save the elephants. I was so angry that I told everyone on campus about the letter and that group went on the blacklist of many college students. If you want ideas for campaigns maybe you should visit the websites of highly successful organizations and notice that they usually have proactive positive messages that will make people feel like opening their wallets instead of giving them nightmares.

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