The History
Founded in 1980 by Ingrid Newkirk, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is an animal-rights nonprofit organization with the slogan "animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any way." According to the website, PETA began work through research, animal rescue, cruelty investigations, and public education. Being the largest animal rights organization in the world, PETA has over 3 million members and supporters worldwide. The mission of PETA focuses on four areas where animals are the most endangered: factory farms, clothing trade, laboratories, and in the entertainment industry (Fletcher, 2013). However, much has changed since 1980. Today, PETA is notoriously known for its controversial advertisements and attention grabbing antics. PETA continues to publicize controversial propaganda which serves as a convincing source of visual rhetoric. Through this visual rhetoric, PETA attempts to answer the question of human and animal division; manipulating the public with contentious graphics. Nevertheless, there are many conflicts within the advertisements that make the organization's endeavors flawed. PETA's antics have grown into an exaggerated and flamboyant social movement. The ridiculousness lying behind PETA's advertisements taints their credibility, which is an essential aspect to have when trying to persuade. The animal rights movement must maintain credibility in order to successfully challenge the boundaries that separate human from animal.
Controversy
On their own website, peta.org, there is a Frequently Asked Questions section. One of the questions asks, "Why does PETA use controversial tactics?" Peta responds with, "We will do extraordinary things to get the word out about animal cruelty because we have learned from experience that the media, sadly, does not consider the terrible facts about animal suffering alone interesting enough to cover...we try to make our actions colorful and controversial, thereby grabbing headlines around the world and spreading the messages of kindness to animals to thousands-sometimes millions-of people" (PETA, 2015). The propaganda is much more than colorful. It seems as if PETA is more concerned with grabbing attention than articulating the greater good. Unlike other animal rights organizations, PETA uses tactics that shock their audience rather than attempt to capitalize on human sympathy. Their propaganda is driven by much more than sympathy, but rather sexually explicit or graphic images.
ADVERTISEMENTS
An almost nude Pamela Anderson stars in this ad for vegetarianism, which was actually banned in Montreal for being too sexist. Many of PETA's ads centralize around nude celebrities (mostly women) posing seductively in order to attract the public. Who knows if these celebrities are actually vegetarian or not? In reality, it's a slim chance they are.
This advertisement features chickens in cages; replicating the conditions that the Jews while in concentration camps. No one can deny the atrocities of the Holocaust, however the horrors that occurred should not be compared to animal abuse whatsoever. This ad was named "Holocaust on Your Plate" by PETA and it was banned by Germany's high court.
In 2009, PETA proved that it had no limits. A billboard ad claimed that going vegetarian would help you lose weight. However, PETA uses the obesity epidemic and the diet-crazed culture of the U.S. to show what person you are if you aren't a vegetarian. A truly disgusting attack by PETA, the billboard was taken down.
This advertisement displays PETA's immoral approaches to their persuasion. While this is a possibility, PETA amplifies the issue and exploits it to an entirely new level. Due to numerous complaints, this ad was taken down in Newark.
STUNTS
PETA goes far above and beyond than simply print advertisements. PETA's members are not afraid to put themselves out there for the cause. In this protest, members of PETA paint themselves red and wrap themselves in styrofoam boxes to resemble packaged meat. This protest was featured in 2010 in Times Square, New York City with the slogan of "Eat meat? You are chewing and swallowing the skin and muscle of a murder victim."
In 2009, two proud PETA members dress up as members of the KKK outside of the Westminster dog show. While their goal was to draw a parallel between the American Kennel Company and the Ku Klux Klan, they achieved a different goal instead: offending every bystander in Madison Square Garden. The KKK imagery was inappropriate no matter what the intended message was.
In this stunt, PETA dramatically attacked McDonald's treatment of chickens; claiming that the franchise scalds the chickens to death. While two scantily clad women pose as dead chickens, other members hold up signs with the parody phrase of "I'm hatin' it." Such strong graphic imagery makes an impact, but not the impact that PETA wants. Instead, the public criticizes the organization's attempts.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS
|
One of the most powerful PETA PSAs, 98% Human features realistic cinematography of an ape in captivity forced to perform in the entertainment industry. The turmoil that apes endure in this industry force them to consider killing themselves, which is the conflict that this ape faces with a gun in the end of the PSA.
|
This PSA takes the form of a music video with abused animals in captivity while the song "Free Me" is played in the background. PETA intends for this video to toil with the public's emotions; due to the impassioned combination of depressing images with a melancholy song.
|
|
|
Attacking animal shelters, this PSA features a family buying a new dog from a breeder. In response, a man pulls out a bag containing a dead dog; a shelter dog that the family hypothetically kills when they buy the dog from the breeder. The man is emotionless and indifferent towards the dead dog, making the PSA extremely haunting and eerie.
|