Photo: Chicken Surprise! PETA Pushes People to Eat at Taco Bell?

For Immediate Release:
August 6, 2025

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

Following the launch of Taco Bell’s new crispy chicken burrito, a sky-high message from PETA has popped up right beside the fast-food chain’s eastern Ross Clark Circle location with a serious question for diners: “Would It Kill You to Get a Bean Burrito?”

Chickens form complex social structures, dream when they sleep, and worry about the future, just as humans do—but in the meat industry, they’re crammed into sheds by the tens of thousands and bred to grow such unnaturally large upper bodies that their legs often become crippled under the weight. At slaughterhouses, mechanized blades slit their throats—often while they’re still conscious—and many are scalded to death in de-feathering tanks.

“We want ‘chicken out’ to mean skip the burrito that represents the suffering of a living individual who felt pain and fear and didn’t want to be killed,” says PETA Founder Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA’s billboard encourages people to consider who is in that burrito and let chickens and other animals Live Más by ordering up the beans or potatoes.”  

Diners at Taco Bell can easily make vegan choices instead of chicken or beef, even adding delicious pico de gallo by ordering “Fresco Style.”

PETA’s billboard is located just feet from Taco Bell at 1087 Ross Clark Circle, near several other fast-food restaurants, including McDonald’s, Hardee’s, and Bojangles—and down the road from a chicken processing plant owned by Wayne Sanderson Farms.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. PETA’s free vegan starter kit is filled with tips to help anyone looking to make the switch. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.