From Controversy to Courtroom: PETA Ads That Sparked Free Speech Victories
When companies and institutions try to silence PETA, we know we’re doing something right. Every bombshell investigation and eye-catching ad pulls back the curtain on the cruelty animal abusers would rather keep hidden. PETA and its lawyers, with the PETA Foundation’s powerhouse legal team, have stopped many of these censorship attempts in their tracks. Every win proves our dedication to animals is unwavering. These victories aren’t just wins for exploited animals; they’re wins for free speech.
Check out some of our bold, provocative ads that sparked lawsuits—and see how PETA fired back to uphold our right to expose cruelty to animals.
PETA’s Anti-Leather Ad Was Cleared for Takeoff After a Wyoming Airport Tried to Ground It
When we first tried to run an anti-leather luggage ad at Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport, we were met with some turbulence: The airport apparently scrambled to create policy guidelines to justify rejecting it. PETA filed suit against the airport, alleging that its new “policy” was unconstitutionally vague and inherently viewpoint-discriminatory, violating the First Amendment.
The airport’s board not only agreed to pay PETA $35,000 for its trouble, but also agreed to run the “Cruelty Doesn’t Fly” ad, reminding travelers that sensitive cows don’t want to be killed for their skins. PETA also won a similar battle against Jackson Hole Airport, where our initially rejected ad ended up running on hundreds of brochures just in time for busy holiday travel.
LA Metro’s Bias Against Animal Rights Ads Got a One-Way Ticket to Nowhere
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro)—one of the nation’s largest public transit systems by annual ridership—tried to derail our campaign encouraging riders to be kind to animals. Meanwhile, the agency was running ads promoting meat, leather, and other products of animal exploitation. So we said, “Next stop: the courtroom.”
The agency’s justification boiled down to an unfair policy that barred ads for noncommercial speech unless a government agency approved them.
We knew this was a bunch of vegan bologna, because LA Metro had previously approved other noncommercial ads—and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California agreed. The court deemed aspects of LA Metro’s policy “unreasonable” and “viewpoint-discriminatory” and ordered the transit agency to stop enforcing the unconstitutional policy.
PETA Curbed a Transit Agency’s Attempt to Muzzle Our Anti-Slaughterhouse Plea Amid a Global Pandemic
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, PETA submitted ads to Shore Transit calling for slaughterhouse closures. The ads were created in response to an executive order that kept these facilities running despite widespread coronavirus infections, including in Maryland, where hundreds of slaughterhouse workers tested positive. The transit agency swiftly rejected our message to save workers, their families, and animals.
Shore Transit claimed our ads were “too offensive” and in violation of its advertising policy, which allowed it to reject ads that it deemed controversial, objectionable, or in poor taste. PETA sued, challenging the agency’s unreasonable policy, asserting that it was viewpoint-discriminatory and inherently vague. A district court sided with PETA, denying Shore Transit’s motion to dismiss the case. Seeing the writing on the wall, Shore Transit withdrew its advertising policy and ended the lawsuit.
PETA Took on Tulsa Transit and Won
If you wouldn’t eat a dog, why eat a pig or a turkey? That’s the message PETA planned to place on local buses in Tulsa, Oklahoma, ahead of Oktoberfest—until Tulsa Transit adopted a new ad policy just a few weeks before the ads were set to run. The agency rejected them with bogus excuses, claiming that they were “not appropriate” and offensive to nonvegans.
PETA’s family-friendly appeals to spare animals’ lives aren’t offensive—but exploiting and killing animals for their flesh is. When we threatened litigation against the agency, Tulsa Transit caved to the pressure and reversed its decision. It also agreed to place the ads on local buses in time for Thanksgiving.
Save Animals With Your Speech AND Your Actions
The best time to speak up for animals is now. Cows, chickens, pigs, and other animals suffer on farms, where they can’t root in soil, bask in the sun, or even breathe fresh air. At slaughterhouses, animals’ throats are often slit while they can still feel it. Every one of these individuals has feelings, complex relationships, and a unique personality—they do not want to be exploited or killed for any reason.
You can help spread a message of compassion and spare animals by going vegan. Order a free vegan starter kit to make the switch today:
Bay Area company Eat Just, maker of vegan egg replacement Just Egg, has signed on to PETA’s Eat Without Experiments program, promising not to test on animals unless it’s legally required.
Seventeen pounds of Rosemary? Talk about spicing up your life! This petite pup was left overnight at a rural Virginia shelter. Now, PETA’s making sure it’s her thyme to shine.
Reality TV star and super-mom Lala Kent is calling on all parents to shun a notorious ABUSEment park. Watch her tear-jerking video for PETA, then take action.
