As Saturday Night Live turns 40, let’s take a stroll down memory lane. Over the years, several cast members have taken part in PETA campaigns or promoted animal rights in skits.
Kevin Nealon was among PETA’s first celebrity spokespeople, taking part in PETA protests, promoting PETA’s spay/neuter mobile clinic, and filming this hilarious vegetarian public service announcement:
Molly Shannon also joined in with this hilarious dog-walking video:
Julia Sweeney’s sexually ambiguous “Pat” character helped PETA get Gillette to stop testing on animals. Sweeney led a protest (while in character) outside the company’s Boston headquarters, and this slick, odd commercial was the result:
Sweeney also wrote one of the most talked about pro-vegetarian animated spots on the show, “Cluckin’ Chicken,” for which she also provided the voice:
More recently, Justin Timberlake performed this “Veganville” musical sketch, written by Paula Pell, SNL‘s current reigning queen of animal rights parodies:
