If it’s me, I’m not sure if some lines were crossed or if what I wrote was unclear, but I certainly do think that this ad is sexist and promoting violence against women. I am also incredibly bothered by rape culture, and agree that the meat industry is barbaric.

If this was not clear, and the Ryan you are referring to is the commenter and/or original poster, I’m sorry. I hope we’re back on the same page now.

As for not being vegan due to PETA, if you do ever choose to consider becoming veg for reasons not being shoved down your throat by PETA, that’s great. If not, I am sad to know that one of our loudest mouthpieces drove you away from their supposed main objective.

thanks for the feedback,
Ryan

Dear Ryan, I suppose you would not admit me telling you the meat industry is barbaric. However, rape culture and misogynistic porn culture don’t seem to bother you. YAY for double standards!

To maria: no. PETA manages to contribute to rape culture and the constant, pervasive objectification of women. It is harmful to women, and harmful to men. They are not opening the path for a better world, they are helping fucking it up.

And not just by making things worse for women. They are managing to alienate all non-vegetarian and non-vegan intelligent people who dislike seing women abused and constantly displayed as meat and as victims.

I, for one, am pretty far of becoming a vegan thanks to PETA. YAY for progress!

Thanks to the author of this post for publishing this.

In regards to the content of your post, we certainly do disagree, and it seems we do so on a number of things. As a vegan and a marketing professional as well, I have a big problem with the idea of promoting a product or an idea through such methods as those that PETA typically employs. There are many reasons for this, some of which I have already highlighted in the article above or past posts, but two of which I believe you yourself presented in your comment.

Describing the purpose of a campaign as something to “lure, entice, and inspire” the “ignorant and complacent people” into a vegan lifestyle shows a great lack of concern for anything but an increase in “sales” or simply the number of people who go vegan from any one campaign. This scares me since we’re not asking people to buy the newest television or wingsuit. We’re asking people to change their lifestyle, and to ideally do it for their whole life. The problem I have with this, and the problem that exists in so much marketing today, is that PETA is selling someone on an idea or suggestion that just may not prove true. Similar to the get rich quick schemes or the newest miracle diet plan, PETA’s current campaign suggests that going vegan will lead to the best sex in your life, as well as your partner’s. The fact of the matter is that a lot more goes into sexual health and satisfaction than a bunch of vegetables. Luring people into veganism on the premise of sex will most likely lead to the majority of your “customers” finding disappointment and betrayal in the result. When this happens, and they realize the only reason they gave up their cheeseburger in the first place was to act like a “tantric porn star” they’re going to return to what they were doing in the first place. Depending on your goal as a marketer or a company, losing a long-term customer represents a failure.

As if disappointing the people that this campaign entices is not bad enough, there is the ripple effect that is felt by so many other people who are fighting for change in regards to other things. These same people avoid the animal rights movement due to organizations such as PETA that show a complete lack of compassion or understanding towards their concerns. The problem is that I believe any organization that suggests they are fighting to end oppression should be considering all forms of oppression, and they should be striving to be a “fully realized being, or a very modern thinker”. Veganism is not the be all and end all solution to winning the world. It may be a part of it, but until people like yourself and organizations like PETA realize that much more has to be done, we’re not going to get very far. Anyone who is fighting for change should be willing to change themselves, and that needs to happen on many levels. To this day, despite a few apologies or the removal of a couple billboards, PETA continues to show little regard for how much their campaigns perpetuate so many horrible attitudes towards women.

On another note, we will also get a lot further in this world the sooner people realize that all paths do not have to lead to god. The world is an amazingly diverse place, and the last thing we need is to bring in another element of our society that refuses to acknowledge the harm it has done to so many through its campaigns to promote its own view.

sincerely,
Ryan