Written by PETA
Like pretty much everyone else on the planet, we at PETA have a YouTube account. Unlike (most) other accounts, we use ours to broadcast and share PETA's funny and provocative ads and public service announcements. Turns out that some of our ads may have been a little too hot for TV YouTube.
After uploading our "Sexy Celebs" video—which features some of our best, hottest, and "nakedest" celebrity ads—we found that, within the week, the video had been rejected and our account temporarily suspended. Oops! Sorry, YouTube! We knew that PETA's ads are often too hot for TV—but we didn't know that you would object to a little friendly side-boob too!
Though YouTube might not be too happy with our video (maybe we'll work on one using burkas soon), we're still more than happy to show it to you if you promise to pass it on. Behold—a video you won't find anywhere else!
It's not just side-boob that YouTube has recently banned. They have also banned other videos of ours in the past, including our (actually pretty tame) "When I Grow Up" video and footage from our Turkey Farm Investigation. Give them a look and judge for yourself! Do you think YouTube was right to ban these videos?
Written by Sean Conner
It's a chilly South Dakota afternoon. You and a friend are scheduled to help save turkeys from a horrible fate at the latest head-turning PETA demo, but your sexy pilgrim costumes have yet to arrive. How do you resolve this nail-biter? Do you (A) go home and have vegan hazelnut hot cocoa? (A cop-out, yes, but oh-so-scrumptious.) Or (B) take matters into your own hands and get all fashionista on it?
Well our down-for-the-count campaigners were certainly not to be put off by some teeny trifle like not having any supplies for their demo. Pshaw! Thinking fast and on their stilettoed feet, they trotted off to the nearest Target and whipped up these stylish numbers.
Impressive, n'est pas?
By the time the original costumes showed up, the turkey-defending tour-de-force was already in full swing! And, as you can see, suited up in their proper gear, our resilient campaigners are keeping it going.
So bonnets off to you pilgrim beauties. You've defended turkeys with your craftiness rain or shine—and all the while in heels! You can also see the pilgrims in action here.
Written by Missy Lane
Any good Marketing professional knows their “ABCs of Marketing”* — Ability to persuade, Businesslike demeanor, and of course, Coercion through bribery. Well, yesterday, in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Beckley, West Virginia, PETA’s Lettuce Ladies rocked all three of these important guidelines as they gave away free gas and vegan sandwiches to 100 people in exchange for a brief chat about the benefits of a vegan diet.
According to the Ladies, there were huge crowds gathered to take advantage of the freebies and find out what all the fuss was about after a news report announcing this unique demonstration, and they gave away hundreds of vegetarian starter kits to a very receptive audience, who were stunned to learn that eating just a single pound of meat is the environmental equivalent of driving more than 40 miles in an SUV. Here’s what my friend and professional Lettuce Lady Colleen Higgins had to say about the experience: "In a time of rising gas prices and rising concern for the environment, we're going the extra mile to help Americans fill up on vegan fuel for their tummies and gas for their tanks." Good stuff.
*I just made these up.
Things could get really nasty here, and I can’t help but feel that we’re partially responsible. According to the celebrity gossip blogs (I read them so you don’t have to) Heroes hottie Kristen Bell has been sparring with her co-star Russell Brand about who’s really the sexiest vegetarian of the two. Here’s what Kristen had to say about the escalating battle on the set of Forgetting Sarah Marshall:
"Russell has been a vegetarian for the same amount of time as me. I've been a vegetarian for 17 years and we used to have little arguments because we were both dubbed Sexiest Vegetarian in the World. But I checked out the record books and his is only Sexiest Vegetarian in the U.K. I politely threw that in his face for most of the movie. He got to throw it back at me when I lost my title this year to Carrie Underwood and he kept his title in the U.K. So that's what I get for getting cocky about eating sexy vegetables!"
I’m not sure who has the strongest argument here, but for what it’s worth, I’m rooting for you, Kristen.
Do it. It’s amazing.
"I've worn a lot of pleather in my life. Anybody who knows me knows that I've kind of lived half my life in it. I love the idea of having choices outside of leather. The outfit that I'm wearing in the ad is so sexy that I suggest if people want to have a better time in the bedroom — then please explore the pleather side."
Thank you, Jenna Jameson! And you can find some more information about great alternatives to buying leather (in addition to just, like, not buying it), right here. Be on the lookout for Jenna’s new ad on March 10—it’s kind of spectacular.
Alicia Silverstone’s wonderful ad is in some very impressive company in TV Guide’s “Best of 2007” viral video list, including two of the very greatest videos of all time (IMHO): Will Ferrell’s “The Landlord,” and Justin Timberlake’s utterly glorious “Dick in a Box.” For anyone who works in marketing, you’ll know that companies tend to use the term “viral video” for pretty much any visual media they can come up with (it tends to be more of a wistful hope than an actual description of the video in question), but some videos really are “viral”—i.e., millions of people watch them, post them on their blogs, and pass them onto their friends—and it’s a truly incredible experience to be involved with one.
You can see TV Guide’s full list here, and here’s a reprise of the stunning pro-vegetarianism PSA that took 2007 by storm.
The votes have been flowing in (seriously, it’s been a banner year for the Sexy Vegetarian Next Door contest), and we’re down to the top two chicks and the top two dudes. There are still two more days to cast your vote for the winner, so click one of the finalists below to hit up the voting page and crown one of these attractive herbivores North America’s Sexiest Vegetarian Next Door.
In related news, I’d like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt appreciation to all the people who have been writing me in to win this contest.* Sadly, PETA’s employees are ineligible, so those votes will not be counted, but I’m truly humbled by this outpouring of support.
*Technically, nobody has actually done this yet.
The 2008 Sexiest Vegetarian Next Door contest is underway, and this year we’re doing things a bit differently. To spice things up a bit, we’ve pitted the nominees against each other in a bracket-style tournament, where the winner takes all. (“All,” in this case, being a free trip to Hawaii.) You can check out the smoking hot lineup of sexy vegetarian guys and gals here. Happy voting!
You know you’re sexy, but does the rest of the world? We’re still accepting nominations for this year’s Sexiest Vegetarian Next Door contest until January 15, when a team of hotness consultants led by PETA’s International Sexiness Coordinator Chris Holbein will be picking the 10 male and 10 female finalists to feature on our website. The two winners of the overall contest will be getting a free trip to Hawaii, so there’s more at stake here than just bragging rights. Click the image of Chris below (a sexy vegetarian himself, on occasion) for more info and to enter the contest.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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