Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez has been an outspoken vegan for a number of years. If you do not know who Tony Gonzalez or his not quite exactly ugly wife are, you're about to find out. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has an anti-fur campaign called "Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" which is brilliant. Truly brilliant. This is the campaign approach: PETA gets ridiculously hot volunteers to take off their clothes and appear naked, bringing awareness to the organization's objective of stopping the use of animals for selfish purposes. Well either that or to forward the prepubescent sexual fantasies of persons who haven't discovered pornography on the internet yet. Here are Tony and October:
To quoteth Sir Anthony David Gonzalez:
"We should be protecting animals, not sacrificing their lives for the sake of fashion or luxury," says Tony Gonzalez. "October and I have changed many of our habits in light of the inhumane treatment of animals that occurs not only in the fur industry but also on factory farms."
Tony is very committed to his lifestyle and I think that's awesome. If this ad has moved you (October moved something in my pants), you could Pledge to Be Fur-Free on PETA's website.
Now that I've done my civic duty, I'd like to point out something. This isn't the first time PETA tried championing its cause through the use of erotic stimuli. We all remember their banned Super Bowl advertisement. I'd also like to call your attention to other celebrities who have appeared in previous PETA ads like Christian Serratos, Karina Smirnoff, Eva Mendes and Joanna Krupa. All of them happen to be thin and ranging from "kinda attractive looking" to "oh my God Joe is sporting a boner in public because that girl is so beautiful it makes his special friend tingle".
Do you think we'll ever see noted vegetarians Cloris Leachman, Ruben Studdard or Forest Whitaker in any "Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" ads?
I'm not trying to decry PETA's approach. Whether you like it or not we live in a society that values beauty. If October Gonzalez looked like Ruben Studdard, the ad would be October free. If Forest Whitaker knocked on my door asking me to sign a pledge to give up fur, I would decline, ask him if he enjoyed filming Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and then politely close the door on his face. If October or Roselyn Sanchez knocked on my door asking me to sign a pledge giving up fur, I would stop wearing fur, become a vegetarian and offer them one of my healthy kidneys.
So finally we have arrived at my frivolous claim. Doesn't it seem strange that an organization that preaches ethical treatment uses nudity and innuendos deemed by many people as unethical treatment of humans? Shouldn't PETA care for humans? Many people looking at the ad will be thinking something like: "I'd like to pork October" or "I wonder if she has any fur on her body" or "I wish Tony could score a touchdown with me".
PETA's approach isn't really conducive to helping steer people towards an animal free lifestyle. We use the expression "treating (someone) like a piece of meat" to describe expressing the opinion of a person as a sexual object and not caring about their feelings and emotions. PETA attempts to bring awareness to their cause (not eating/wearing animals) by treating humans as pieces of meat.
If you really want to make an impact you'd show more ads of animals being slaughtered and tortured. Those images are disturbing, thought provoking and would cause more of the desired reaction they seek over placing a beautiful person on a poster naked. A naked Joanna Krupa won't stop people from eating meat or wearing fur. It will only facilitate more sexual images and thoughts and further the belief that good looking people are pieces of meat.
They're both yummy
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