In Memory of George Carlin

wktv / CC

I'm very sad to say that George Carlin passed away last night. The Grammy and Emmy winner was truly an icon in the world of comedy and will be sorely missed by many for his humor and passion. One thing many of you may not be aware of is that Carlin frequently had animal rights messages in his work. One of my personal favorite Carlin quotes comes from his book Brain Droppings, in which he said, "And I think people have a lot of nerve locking up a tiger and charging four dollars to let a few thousand worthless humans shuffle past him every day. What a shi**y thing to do. Humans must easily be the meanest species on Earth. Probably the only reason there are any tigers left is because they don't taste good."

With his solid wit and enthusiasm, he brought a pro-animal message to many people who may not have received it otherwise. On the veg front, Carlin has said, "Eating meat is one thing, but this whole beef-rancher-manure-cattle-hamburger side show is a different skillet of sh** altogether. Each year, Americans eat 38 billion hamburgers. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of red meat. Cattle consume one half of all the fresh water consumed on Earth. The sixty million people who will starve this year could be adequately fed if Americans reduced their meat intake to just 10 percent."

Even though Carlin has passed on, his words will live on and we really appreciate his zeal and fervor for animals. "And yet, in spite of all these examples of creature mayhem, I will not strike a dog, I will not chase and taunt a bull around a ring, and I will not squeeze an animal's testicles just to give the yokels a better show," said Carlin in one of the many pro-animal excerpts from Brain Droppings. We'll always remember you!

In honor of George's extremely popular "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" and his passion for animals, we'd like to include our own list of "Seven Videos You Can Never Show on Television." The following list is a sampling of our many banned television ads:

Seven Videos You Can Never Show on Television
In Honor of George Carlin

1. Sexy Vegetables PSA
   Rude food. We promise that pasta and vegetables have never been this sexy or satisfying!
2. Wrong Meeting?
   Our award-winning animal birth control (ABC) ad, featuring one very controversial character
3. Buy One, Get One Killed
   A PSA that really puts the whole "responsible breeder" BS into perspective
4. Milk Gone Wild
   Your favorite video gone udderly wrong
5. Sex and the Kitty
   PETA's pro-spaying/neutering ad shows animatronic cats doing what kitties who are left "intact" do—have sex, that is
6. Sex Talk
   Another award-winning ABC ad, featuring one very interesting conversation you've probably never had with your parents
7. Sexy Sausage: Director's Cut
   High cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, hormonal imbalances, and other causes of impotence can be virtually eliminated (and even cured) with a low-fat vegan diet

Posted by Christine Dore