‘Please Don’t Eat Me!’ PETA’s Robo-Turkey to Strut Into West Palm Beach for Free Vegan Roast Giveaway
For Immediate Release:
November 19, 2025
Contact:
Hannah Nelson 202-483-7382
Ahead of Thanksgiving—and to ensure that everyone has access to delicious and nourishing food over the holidays—a robotic turkey named “Travis Beaker” (after Travis Barker, the vegan drummer for Blink 182) will lead PETA supporters in a giveaway of vegan roasts outside Publix on Friday. PETA’s robo-bird will talk turkey to shoppers, encouraging them to make kindness their tradition by gobbling veggies, not turkeys this holiday and beyond—and reminding them that “I’ll know if you walk out with a turkey in your cart!”
“Turkeys are affectionate, inquisitive beings who love their families and value their lives, and they don’t want to be killed for a fleeting meal any more than humans do,” says PETA President Tracy Reiman. “This Thanksgiving, PETA encourages everyone to let turkeys live in peace by serving a savory vegan feast that we can all be thankful for.”
Where: Outside of Publix, 375 S Rosemary Ave, West Palm Beach
When: Friday, November 21, 12:00 p.m.
Why: In nature, turkeys can live for over 10 years and spend their days caring for their young, building nests, and roosting in trees. But those raised for food are slaughtered within their first six months of life—and approximately 46 million are killed each year for Thanksgiving alone. At slaughterhouses, young birds are shackled and hung upside down on a conveyor belt, dragged through an electrified bath, and have their throats slit before they’re dumped into scalding-hot defeathering tanks—often while they’re still conscious.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kitsfor people who need a lesson in kindness. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
