Will Sexy ‘Go Vegan’ Ads Make a Splash in City Pools?

PETA Offers to Help Keep South Pittsburg’s Budget Afloat by Paying to Promote Plant-Based Meals

For Immediate Release:
May 25, 2017

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Amid reports that budget cuts have forced the South Pittsburg City Commission to close the swimming pool at Loyd Park, PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—sent a letter to Mayor Virgil Holder this morning offering to help keep the city’s budget out of the deep end by paying for pro-vegan ads to run at South Pittsburg pools. The eye-catching ads, available here, proclaim, “Dive Into a Vegan Lifestyle This Summer.”

“Vegan meals are a fantastic way to save animals’ lives; reduce our risk of suffering from obesity, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes; and help swimmers get that sought-after bikini body,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s cheeky ads could help keep South Pittsburg’s pools above water and its residents healthy all summer long.”

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

PETA’s letter to Mayor Virgil Holder follows.

May 25, 2017

The Honorable Virgil F. Holder

Mayor of South Pittsburg

Dear Mayor Holder,

On behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 6.5 million members and supporters worldwide, including many across Tennessee, I’m writing in response to news reports that South Pittsburg will be forcing the closure of the city pool at Loyd Park. We have a proposition that could help keep the pool and your budget afloat. We’ve designed an eye-catching ad that we hope will make a splash. It reads, “Dive Into a Vegan Lifestyle This Summer,” and we’d like to explore paying to place it at pools in your city.

In addition to providing some revenue to keep the city’s services above water, our ad would encourage city residents and visitors alike to keep their health out of the deep end by trying vegan meals and thereby discovering a delicious way to lower the risk of developing some of our nation’s top killers, including heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Encouraging residents to go vegan would also help them achieve their “summer swimsuit bodies.” On average, vegans are 10 to 20 pounds lighter than meat-eaters, and according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics—among other dietary experts—they’re far less prone to obesity.

Our ad would remind swimmers that—when it comes to joy and suffering—we’re all in the same boat. Animals raised for food value their lives and love their families just as we do. Every person who goes vegan after seeing our ad can save more than 100 animals every year from factory farms—where cows are often castrated, dehorned, and branded without any painkillers; newborn calves are removed from their loving mothers; and chickens and turkeys are crammed into filthy, ammonia-filled sheds with tens of thousands of other birds, and their throats are sometimes slit while they’re still conscious.

Don’t let your citizens’ wishes to keep the pool open this summer go down the drain. We hope you’ll consider paid advertising at city pools and let PETA run the first ad. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely yours,

Tracy Reiman

Executive Vice President