Update: In deference to the wishes of Manti Te'o and his representatives, PETA is abandoning its plans to erect a billboard featuring an image of the Notre Dame standout next to the slogan "Sometimes Faking It Is Better. Score Faux-Chicken Super Bowl Recipes at PETA.org." Hopefully, people will still defer to the wishes of chickens and not rip their wings off.

Originally posted on January 28th, 2013:

Manti Te'o may have been buffaloed by a fake girlfriend, but he shouldn't feel too bad: Sometimes fake is actually better. That's why PETA created a billboard urging football fans to avoid unnecessary roughness to chickens on Super Bowl Sunday by intentionally grounding real chicken wings and opting for play-action fake fowl instead.

Those animals in PETA's "Glass Walls" video? Unlike Manti's make-believe girlfriend, their deaths are real. Birds slaughtered for their wings and other body parts are often dropped into tanks of scalding-hot water while they are still conscious and aren't covered by even the meager protections of the Humane Slaughter Act.  

The price of chicken wings is currently skyrocketing because of higher feed costs caused by this summer's drought, which makes now the perfect time to try vegan wings, such as Gardein Classic Style Buffalo Wings, a favorite of vegetarian and former Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams. 

This Super Bowl Sunday, opt for healthy and humane faux wings (find recipes at PETA's Living page). That way, nobody gets hurt. 

A lot has been happening this week at PETA: victories, anniversaries, and celebrations! We're after CareerBuilder, we stopped shipments of monkeys to laboratories, and we've done much more! Check out the latest news and victories:

PETA News on Tumblr

What a busy week it's been in the PETAsphere! Just in case you missed any of the big news, we've got you covered. Follow us on Tumblr for future news about animal rights, vegan living, and where in the world the PETA campaigners are now.

• Greece Bans Circus Animals

• House Mice Serenade Mates With 'Bird' Song

• AP Enterprise: Monkey Owners Flee Louisiana Crackdown

• Gorillas Grin 'to Reassure Friends'

• 'Free the Animals' by Ingrid E. Newkirk

•  The Scary Danger of Meat (Even for Those Who Don't Eat It)

• PETA Demo: Dupont Festival

• Group Opposes Plan to Make 'Toto' Breed Kansas State Dog

• 69 Percent of You Think Drinking Cow's Milk Is Unnatural; Here's Why

• PETA Demo: $eal $laughter

• PETA Demo: CareerBuilder: Stop the Animal Abuse

New Action Alerts

• URGENT: Help Stop Bull Torture 'Festival' in Mexico!—Urge officials to ban this bloody and sadistic "sport."

• URGENT: Goldfish Desperately Need Your Voice!—Tell The Bar that there are many drinking games that don't involve torturing goldfish.

• Tell 'Price Is Right' Producers to Keep Cruel Stampede and SeaWorld Out of Prize Packages—Join Bob Barker in telling The Price Is Right that the Calgary Stampede and SeaWorld are dead wrong.

New Features

• PETA's Champion Chicken Announced!—Who's the cluckiest chicken on the block? Meet Toro, our 2012 Champion Chicken.

• Too Hot for the Big Game: PETA's Banned Super Bowl Ads—You didn't get to see them during the Super Bowl. But that's OK—you can see them all here with no boring time-outs in between.

• Penélope Cruz Gives Fur the Cold Shoulder—The stunning Spanish actor and Academy Award winner turns a cold shoulder to fur.

New Living Articles

• Knowing Your Audience—Chimpanzees think before they speak.

• Must-Reads for Vegan Moms-to-Be—Vegan and pregnant? No sweat! Grab one of these books, cozy up on the couch, and read all about it. (Feel free to snack while you read—you're eating for two!)

• Dress Vegan for Success—Dressing to impress in the office or the job interview has never been so easy … or so animal-friendly!

• Win a Copy of the 'Spork-Fed' Cookbook—All hail the spork! Spice up your meals with a copy of Spork-Fed by spunky vegan sisters Jenny Engel and Heather Goldberg. Enter now for a chance to win.

Apparently, NBC has something against girls who love their veggies. After we submitted our proposed Super Bowl ad, which features a comely crop of models demonstrating their fondness for fresh produce, NBC nixed the ad, saying it "depicts a level of sexuality exceeding our standards." No joke, this is straight from NBC—so stop fondling your fruit salad right now and read the list of shots NBC requested we cut before they’d reconsider:

• licking pumpkin
• touching her breast with her hand while eating broccoli
• pumpkin from behind between legs
• rubbing pelvic region with pumpkin
• screwing herself with broccoli (fuzzy)
• asparagus on her lap appearing as if it is ready to be inserted into vagina
• licking eggplant
• rubbing asparagus on breast

Wow, that list even made us blush! You can read the full NSFW letter from NBC here and then watch the video to see what the controversy is all about.  Not as pure as eating apple pie, but it sure does drive home the fact that vegetarians make better lovers. And I'm pretty sure that most Super Bowl fans would find the ad a lot more appealing than the impotence and other not-so-sexy effects that a steady stream of chicken wings and burgers can have on their love lives.

Why so grouchy NBC? Sounds like someone’s not getting enough um…vegetables. I’m thinking network execs could really benefit from a broccoli booty call.

That said, what do you think about our sexy Super Bowl ad? Do you agree with NBC's decision to reject it?

Written by Amy Elizabeth