If there's one organization that knows how to stir the pot, it's PETA. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals group has been known to throw paint or flour on fur-wearers, stage unorthodox protests in the streets, and call out celebrities on social media. As much as they'd like the world to believe they have good intentions, their methods often rub people the wrong way.
According to PETA, they were all set to debut an advertisement during Super Bowl LIV, but they were rejected. Yahoo Sports reports that the organization's animated ad's message was to "End Speciesism" as it shows various animals somberly taking a knee al la Colin Kaepernick. PETA shared the one-minute ad online, and to say that the reactions were confuddled is an understatement.
“The National Football League apparently found our new Colin Kaepernick-inspired ad — with its message of inclusion and respect — too daring and pressured FOX to snub our commercial,” the organization wrote on their website. “PETA worked with a talented group of advertisers and artists who came up with the idea for our beautiful ad. Positively acknowledged by Kaepernick himself, this project pays homage to all movements that remind us to open our hearts and minds and reject all forms of injustice, including sexism, ableism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and speciesism. … The NFL may be unconcerned with inequality, but we at PETA are activists who will continue to work to dismantle all forms oppression.”
PETA president Ingrid Newkirk also released a statement: “PETA is challenging speciesism, which is a supremacist worldview that allows humans to disrespect other living, feeling beings and to treat their interests as unimportant. Our patriotic Super Bowl spot envisions an America in which no sentient being is oppressed because of how they look, where they were born, who they love, or what species they are. It sends a message of kindness — one that the NFL should embrace, not silence.”
Watch the ad and read through a few reactions below.
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