Written by PETA
With all the constant chatter about 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears' pregnancy announcement, this seemed like an ideal time to air our “Sex Talk” ad, which draws a connection between irresponsible animal guardians who refuse to spay and neuter their pets, and parents who are a bit too blasé about having that awkward chat with their kids about birds, bees, and other such reputedly promiscuous creatures.
The ad will be running in Ms. Spears’ home state of Louisiana this week to remind residents of the Bayou State that animal overpopulation in this country has extended well beyond crisis proportions, and that anyone who cares about their dog or cat should have them spayed or neutered immediately. Fortunately, the ad itself is a lot funnier and less preachy than what I just wrote, so you should check it out if you haven’t seen it yet. You can also read Fox News’ take on the story here. The “Sex Talk” ad, and its companion piece “Buy One, Get One Free” are below—stay tuned for the third installme which is coming out in a couple of weeks (that’s what’s called a teaser!). Check ‘em out:
Two members of PETA Asia Pacific hijacked a fur seminar at Hong Kong Fashion Week today to ensure that attendees got the animals’ side of the story as well. Here’s what PETA Asia Pacific’s Rebecca Chui had to say about it:
“We want the Fashion Week attendees to know that fur means cruelty to animals. They suffer terrible pain from the time they are caught. Some of them are skinned alive. Some are killed by poisoning, gassing or anal or vaginal electrocution. We are in the 21st century and there is fur substitute now. There's no excuse to kill any more animals.”
Asked for comment on this statement, the Hong Kong Fur Federation called it “extremely regrettable”—by which I can only assume they meant “bad for business.” Which, well, fair enough. I can’t imagine that they would have chosen these images themselves to represent their nasty little promotional event in the international media:
To celebrate the occasion, PETA India held a giant birthday bash in Mumbai, hosted by Ingrid Newkirk and some of India’s biggest stars. Happy Birthday, guys! Here are some of the pics that have been circulating the web (just in case you’re not keeping tabs on the Indian celebrity blogosphere already).
If you haven’t seen it yet, it is imperative that you watch this new video for our ABC Campaign, which is both an initiative to educate people about the importance of spaying and neutering their animals, and stop breeders from pumping out thousands of pups every year who take homes from those destined to die in shelters. What I like about Sex Talk, and the other spot we’ve put together for this campaign, is that it’s a lot more than just a funny ad. There’s something about it that makes you really uncomfortable—which, I guess, is exactly what a proper chat about the birds and the bees is supposed to. Check it out if you haven’t seen it yet, and you can watch the other video (Buy One, Get One Free) here.
‘It became very difficult when Linda died because I said I would support cancer charities,’ said Sir Paul. ‘But then animal rights group wrote to me pointing out that many were heavily into vivisection.’
File this one under “hilarious.”
PETA Asia-Pacific, which may or may not be comprised of drunken frat guys, had a clever demonstration planned in which inflatable sex dolls would assert the fact that “KFC Blows”. Unfortunately the dolls were confiscated by customs officials in the Philippines, who may or may not be lonely men.
PETA Asia-Pacific had planned to take the dolls on a tour of red-light districts, including Pat Pong in Bangkok, Kings Cross in Sydney, Kabukicho in Japan, and the Philippines' Angeles City. The dolls were confiscated by customs officials when they arrived in the Philippines via U.S.-based package carrier UPS en route to PETA Asia-Pacific's office in Makati.
"The blow-up dolls were a trouble-free prop because KFC also treats chickens like inanimate objects," says PETA Asia-Pacific Director Jason Baker. "KFC profits from using crude killing methods—the company has an international obligation to stop torturing the birds who end up dead in its buckets. We're calling on people worldwide to boycott KFC until the company implements minimal animal welfare standards."
Next maybe PETA Asia-Pacific will challenge KFC’s executives to Beirut to decide the fate of the 850 million chickens raised and killed for KFC.
I’m a fan of lists. I’m also a fan of Jack Shepherd (as in the guy who usually writes this blog not the doctor on Lost—though I like him too). Jack’s off enjoying the holidays with his family so I thought I’d use part of my time on the blog to spotlight some of Jack’s non-blog work at PETA. (Hopefully Jack will keep this in mind when he comes back and sees all the typos I left on “his blog.”) Jack’s primary job duty other than writing The PETA Files is coordinating what we call “online viral projects”—projects that are funny, shocking, or emotional in some other way so much that when people see them they forward them on to their friends and the content spreads around the Internet through word of mouth.
My 10 Favorite Projects That Jack Masterminded or The Ten Projects that I’m Most Proud to Have Worked with Jack On
1. Super Chick SistersSuper Chicks Sisters, a parody of Super Mario Bros. that highlights KFC’s abusive practices was Jack’s first mega-hit. We really made an impression on the gaming world—and Jack knows better than anyone that it’s a tough world to penetrate. Over a half a million people have played Super Chick Sisters on our web sites. Probably an equal amount of people have played it on other sites. Not bad!
2. Trollsen Twins: Full House of Horror Video
Jack had to watch endless hours of Full House to be able to write the Full House of Horror script. Then he put his money where his mouth is and got naked for the project in true Terminator style. Really just seeing Jack walk down the Tanner’s kitchen stairs is why this project is my second favorite. It’s that simple.
3. Santa Got Run Over by His ReindeerJack not only wrote the lyrics but he sang the song as well. It’s the singing that gets it the high ranking. I love the whole animation because it highlights how we have a sense of humor about ourselves.
4. State of the Union Undress Jack certainly has an interesting job! He’s paid to recruit his co-workers to shed their clothes for the Internet. Watch the video if you don’t know what I’m talking about. This makes the top 5 of my list of favorite projects because it’s a great example of how ballsy PETA is. We’re not afraid to be edgy and neither are the brave individuals who work for PETA who are willing to put themselves out there.
5. Trollsen Twins: Dress Up the TrollsensThis campaign, which is about how Ashley and Mary Kate Olsen should stop promoting and wearing fur, is so wonderful it’s on the list twice! We had been talking about doing a dress up dolls game for over a year before the Trollsens campaign came around and we knew we had a match.
6. KFC Cruelty Sign Generator I love this project because it’s something KFC should have done themselves and probably would have if they had thought of it. Although their version would have educated far fewer people about cruelty to animals…
7. PETA’s Holiday Snow Globe E-card
The sleeper hit of 2007. I was pretty psyched when I met up with a friend I hadn’t seen in years and he mentioned he saw this the other day. Not bad for a holiday e-card in a world that’s drowning in them.
8. The Fast Food Nation GameThis game, which we created to help promote the Fast Food Nation movie is truly addictive. When making this list I got sidetracked and had to play the game for 20 minutes. Actually every time someone so much as mentions it I have to play it through again. It has a power over me.
9. Burberry ChavsThank goodness Jack is British. Otherwise I don’t know how we would have pulled this one off. It’s a great project though because it’s funny even if you don’t know what a “chav” is. I’d explain what this project is but really you just have to experience it for yourself.
10. Pirates of the Carob BeanI’m obsessed with choose your own adventure stories. In fact this project is almost like Jack’s present to me (Thank you, Jack!). The jokes were actually a bit too niche nerdy for this to be the hit we had hoped but I love it enough to make up for the rest of the world not knowing it exists.
Jack of course would want me to mention that he doesn’t work on these projects alone. Our web folk (Karen, Reannon, Elizabeth O, Shawn, Hasan) are crucial, as are our AV dudes (Hey Jamie and Hayden, what’s up?). Then there are all the people who help with ideas, media, and well there are people all over the organization who’ve helped out. Just like all of PETA’s campaigns and projects these are a real team effort.So if you haven’t already take some time to explore all of these web sites and send them along to your friends who might be open to animal rights but need a soft approach. These projects should warm them right up.- Joel
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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