PeTA Porn

I’m confused.

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why PeTA continually advertises with naked pictures of women. Every time I see one of their campaigns, my forehead wrinkles and my head starts shaking back and forth involuntarily. What exactly are they trying to say?

“Vegetarianism is Sexy!” -- Yeah, I don’t think it’s the lack of sex appeal that’s keeping people from putting down the bacon.

“You can look this good too if you stop slaughtering innocent animals!” -- Do they really think we aren’t going to see the fine print that says, “Results not typical. Becoming a hot Vegetarian also requires working out daily to tone up and eating an ungodly amount of soy product to replace the lack of protein in your diet. And, admittedly, there are plenty of carnivores just as sexy.”

“You don’t need that fur coat – you can look awesome with NOTHING on!” -- I guess they think frost bite is sexy too. (For the record – I think wearing fur is icky unless you are an Eskimo.)

“We promise! It’s not just for hippies! This super-cool celeb is a vegetarian too!” -- Sure! Pamela Anderson is totally normal and has never done anything strange – I want to be and look just like her!

Now, don’t get me wrong - I’m all for the ethical treatment of animals… but, at the risk of sounding heartless, I still like them slaughtered, butchered and on my plate (ethically, of course). When I have some extra cash in my bank account, I ALWAYS reach for the free range meat… but, again, I don’t spend much time mourning the loss of the lives they could have had or the cud they could have chewed if they were not on my grill.

But, when did sexuality and food advertising become bedfellows?

We see it everywhere – Paris Hilton parading around in a bathing suit while enjoying her Whopper (and enjoying it WAAAAY too much, if you ask me), Dairy Queen’s big red lips licking up its tasty treats, commercials for gourmet chocolates showing women imagining themselves rolling around in silk sheets while they snack, and nearly every fast food joint has a commercial full of close-up shots of burgers set to Barry White’s “Oh yeah”s and sexy slow jams.

The whole thing just makes me feel awkward. And PeTA in particular bothers me because (Warning: I may be about to put on my quasi-feminist hat) I feel it’s an exploitation of women and sexuality used in a way to get some extra attention. And, while I realize that getting you to do the double-take is the very BASIS of advertising, I just can’t help but feel like they could do it in way that didn’t involve using playboy bunnies to help save real bunnies. Cause for an organization with “ethical” in their name… they might want to take some time to examine their advertising ethics.

Plus… its just kind of creepy.