Spring Break
PETA's message lost in extreme, outrageous acts, protests
By the Editorial Board, The Lariat Baylor University
Issue date: 2/2/09 Section: Opinion
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, is known for its outrageous protests, often involving throwing fake blood on people wearing fur or protesting naked en masse. Its latest actions are no less extreme, but show that PETA needs to take its mission more seriously so that other people can, too.
Earlier this month, PETA started a marketing campaign to have fish renamed "sea kittens." The name, they said, would make people think twice about eating them and would hopefully prompt the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stop its promotion of fishing.
"Knowing that the fish sticks in the school cafeteria are really made out of tortured sea kittens makes most kids want to lose their lunch," PETA campaign co-ordinator Ashley Byrner has said.
Anyone interested in the campaign can go to PETA's Web site and learn more about the cause and play an interactive game where you dress up a fish like a cat and sign a petition to have fish changed to sea kittens. But it's hard to believe anyone would.
Instead of making real change for the better treatment of animals, PETA has made itself a sideshow. No one can take its mission seriously when the solutions it offers are so absurd.
Changing the name of an animal isn't going to make it any less appealing to those who consume it. And fish and felines aren't comparable enough for people to actually make the connection and stop eating them. Catfish is still a wildly popular entre even though it has a similar name.
The word fish has been around since the 12th century, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. It's foolish for PETA to think they could actually have a word with such old roots in our language changed with such little reason for it.
PETA has also made headlines for other equally ridiculous suggestions recently. In September, the group asked Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream to switch out the cow milk used to make their ice cream for human breast milk. They said this would benefit the health of both cows and consumers.
Earlier this month, PETA started a marketing campaign to have fish renamed "sea kittens." The name, they said, would make people think twice about eating them and would hopefully prompt the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stop its promotion of fishing.
"Knowing that the fish sticks in the school cafeteria are really made out of tortured sea kittens makes most kids want to lose their lunch," PETA campaign co-ordinator Ashley Byrner has said.
Anyone interested in the campaign can go to PETA's Web site and learn more about the cause and play an interactive game where you dress up a fish like a cat and sign a petition to have fish changed to sea kittens. But it's hard to believe anyone would.
Instead of making real change for the better treatment of animals, PETA has made itself a sideshow. No one can take its mission seriously when the solutions it offers are so absurd.
Changing the name of an animal isn't going to make it any less appealing to those who consume it. And fish and felines aren't comparable enough for people to actually make the connection and stop eating them. Catfish is still a wildly popular entre even though it has a similar name.
The word fish has been around since the 12th century, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. It's foolish for PETA to think they could actually have a word with such old roots in our language changed with such little reason for it.
PETA has also made headlines for other equally ridiculous suggestions recently. In September, the group asked Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream to switch out the cow milk used to make their ice cream for human breast milk. They said this would benefit the health of both cows and consumers.
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