‘I’m ME, Not MEAT,’ Proclaims Lobster on New PETA Ads

Ads in Portland International Jetport Urge Travelers to See All Animals as Individuals and Go Vegan

For Immediate Release:
July 31, 2018

Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382

Just ahead of the Maine Lobster Festival, PETA has placed ads featuring a lobster declaring, “I’m ME, Not MEAT. See the Individual. Go Vegan,” on the concourse in the Portland International Jetport. The ads are near several airport restaurants, including the notorious Linda Bean’s Maine Lobster Cafe, which sells live lobsters for passengers to take as carry-ons. A PETA investigation of Linda Bean’s Maine Lobster revealed that live lobsters were impaled, torn apart, and decapitated—even as their legs continued to move.

The ads are near gates 1 and 6 in the Portland International Jetport, which is located at 1001 Westbrook St., and will be up throughout August.

“Just like humans, lobsters feel pain and fear, have unique personalities, and value their own lives,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s ads encourage travelers in Maine to spare these animals the agony of being boiled alive simply by choosing vegan meals.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that lobsters are intelligent individuals who use complex signals to establish social relationships and can take long-distance seasonal journeys, often traveling up to 100 miles in a year. Chefs typically place live lobsters into pots of boiling water while they’re still conscious—a cruel practice that has recently been banned in Switzerland.

PETA offers a free vegan starter kit (available here) full of recipes, tips, and more. For more information, please visit PETA.org.