Last week, PETA detailed its plans to launch a pornographic website dedicated to animal rights, veganism and vegetarianism.
In their latest campaign against animal cruelty, the website, registered with a .xxx domain name, will feature provocative photographs and video juxtaposed with graphic footage of the mistreatment of animals.
As admirable as PETA’s aims may seem, their ever-so-tiresome attempts at attention-grabbing with controversial or racy campaigns only undermine their credibility as an organization and distract from their actual message.
Not unlike the hipster who pairs cutoffs with a wool scarf in August, PETA’s logic seems, at the least, a bit misguided. Those who frequent porn websites are not going to suddenly switch to PETA’s brand and magically realize the horror of the American cheeseburger. They will simply continue to surreptitiously surf the X-rated web and subsequently erase their browser histories. Those who are already considering a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle will not suddenly convert in a flash of inspiration at the sight of genitalia.
Perhaps someone, somewhere, sitting in front of a computer right now will see the news of PETA’s latest shenanigans and shout, “ABOUT TIME!” But these occurrences will likely be few and far between. One doesn’t see other credible organizations and companies jumping for a chance at product placement in the newest porno; Starbucks, amazingly enough, managed to refrain from advertising for the new Fall Pumpkin Spice Latte in “Pulp Friction.”
Moreover, PETA seems to devote an extraordinary amount of attention to the rights of animals, but seems remarkably indifferent toward the exploitation of women. What about the actors in these videos and the models in these photographs? Before we discuss the humanity of the food industry’s treatment of animals, perhaps we should consider the humanity of the porn industry.
If anything, this campaign will cause unnatural reactions at the sight of a fresh steak. Does PETA really think it a good idea to juxtapose sex with graphic images of animal mistreatment? That seems like a recipe headed for disaster.
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