PETA sensationalism

[evilnumberlady]

I've heard many people say something like the following about PETA.

"I think there is a lot of animal cruelty that should be stopped, and it's good that there are organizations like PETA that try to stop that. But they are just shooting themselves in foot by going to far / using sensationalism to get attention, and therefore it's hard to take them seriously"

For example, a few years ago when I was in college I was at a small social gathering where at one point people were gathered around a computer mocking PETA's lettuce ladies / broccoli boys site.

I know that many people here are PETA advocates and wondered what you had to say about the topic. Are PETA's current tactics good or should they "take themselves more seriously"?

[VoodooJoint]

I think most of their ads get attention and that means a higher public awareness.

If Hawaiian Tropic Sunscreen has their bikini tours then why not have PETA parade around models wearing nothing but lettuce and broccoli?

[PiggieMom]

I think they should do whatever it takes to get people's attention. They do a lot of different things to do awareness. Some serious, some a little goofy. It takes something different to get different people's attention.

[evilnumberlady]

Just playing the devil's advocate here, I'm not actually disagreeing (or agreeing either)

But does it concern you that while these sorts of methods to get people's attention may work in that people notice they also turn people off from their message because the group comes off as a bunch of kooks to lot of people?

[VoodooJoint]

The people that think they are kooks are not going to respond much better to serious ads either. I may see a PETA ad that makes me laugh or think the ad exec is crazy, but I still get the message.

I bet that out of all those college kids that were making fun of the site there were a couple that were a little less enthusiastic about the teasing and were actually "getting it".

[PiggieMom]

Or while going back to the site to laugh at it again at the comfort of their own home they may browse more of PETA affiliated sites to see if they can find similar "crazy" people. They may stumble across something that they understand, something that gets to them.

[CavySpirit]

I have no doubt that many, many people thought the sufferagettes were wacko sensationalists, too.

[Sabriel]

I guess I must be "kooky" because I think the lettuce thing is really really cool. I mean, just think of the workmanship that went into making an entire outfit out of lettuce.

I like it in a back to nature sort of way.

What one person thinks is strange is another person's normal or cool. You can never win them all.

[Susan9608]

If PETA wasn't "sensational", how many people would know about them? People always say that there's no such thing as bad publicity - well, PETA appears to follow that train of thought. Whenever they get acknowledged, good or bad, people are at least paying attention to them. And the people that might not initially agree, may think about it for awhile, and then go back and look into the issue more.

[Pamela Barr]

I love it when they throw red paint on fur coats people are wearing but got to thinking there are so many faux furs out there so they better be careful and not get the wrong one, now that would be bad. But the fancy people with real fur coats, let 'em have it.

[Percy's Mom]

This was in Richmond recently. Made the front cover of Style Weekly around here. Style Weekly : Richmond's alternative for news, arts, culture and opinion

[Sabriel]

Ha! I am liking PETA's new style. I am predicting an ever increasing amount of male veg*ans soon.

[suzilovespiggie]

If Pamela Anderson can use her "assets" to help animals, go for it. The message needs to get out there. People pay attention, good or bad, some will change others won't. Trying to save animals one at a time or many at a time. It's worth it.

[spoonyspork]

I totally agree, on all accounts.

PETA is a bit too sensational for some people. Many will be turned off by their campaigns. Many will ridicule them and never take them seriously.

HOWEVER, I also agree that any publicity is good publicity, and getting the message out there.

Take me, for example. I'm pretty turned off by PETA, but any time I've seen them in the news, no matter how nutty I think it is, I'll go straight to getting more background information and whatnot. Thanks to them, I've gotten more resources for information about animal rights, have learned a LOT, and can form my own 'less sensational' aguments to use on people about animal rights, making them more likely to listen to me.

This is a good thing, and so even though PETA will likely never get any money from me, I get to fight to good fight right along with them, with their indirect help.