"I've never been more attracted to you, Cody."
Posted on 08/07/2005 4:51:44 AM PDT by silent_jonny
The front lines of a high-stakes food fight moved recently to a sidewalk in front of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, where young volunteers from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals tried to shock and disgust lunch-hour patrons.
There was a PETA intern dressed in a bloodied chicken costume, a 22-year-old with shocking pink hair and the word "VEGAN" tattooed across her chest in gothic lettering, and campaign coordinator Ben Goldsmith with a flat-screen television strapped to his chest.
"That bird is having its thigh sliced open while fully conscious," Goldsmith said, narrating a grisly video as KFC customer Tiffany Mueller looked on, gnawing on a piece of chicken.
"It all tastes the same to me," Mueller said.
As unorthodox as it may sound, the protest against KFC represents what has been a highly successful formula for PETA, an organization founded in 1980 that is perhaps best known for tactics such as throwing red paint on fur coats and comparing the slaughter of livestock to the Holocaust.
...
Taking a stand
What makes the KFC campaign unique is that the chicken chain has refused to submit to PETA's demands, which include stopping the use of growth-enhancing antibiotics and using gas, rather than electric shocks and sharp knives, to kill chickens. As a result, company executives have been doused with fake blood, criticized by the likes of Pamela Anderson, Al Sharpton and the Dalai Lama, and continually subjected to the circuslike atmosphere of PETA protests at its restaurants.
In Ft. Wayne, Ind., for example, a PETA intern dressed in a chicken suit spent an hour-long protest in a wheelchair, going back and forth through a busy intersection. The "stunt boy" from local radio station "Wild 96.3" trailed the intern, holding out a bucket of chicken and asking, "Is this your brother or your aunt?"
...
[After successfully intimidating McDonald's in the early '90s] PETA responded with the "Murder King" campaign against Burger King and "Wicked Wendy's" protests against Wendy's hamburgers. Both chains eventually followed the lead of McDonald's.
Richard Berman, executive director of the Center for Consumer Freedom, an advocacy group funded by the food and restaurant industry, argued that PETA simply accelerated changes fast-food restaurants would have made anyway.
When PETA demands more costly changes, such as that KFC gas its chickens instead of stunning them, they are not nearly so successful, he said.
"I think they'll be screaming about it for a very long time," Berman said, adding that the campaign would not influence many consumers. "Pam Anderson as a spokesperson for anything that is thoughtful is a joke. I think PETA is largely seen as being a somewhat bizarre organization."
...
On a blazing afternoon in Lansing, Ben Goldsmith and his colleagues are doing their best to bend the minds of KFC customers. Two PETA interns take turns wearing the chicken suit, which can be stifling in the summer heat.
Goldsmith called local PETA members ahead of time, so in Lansing and Ft. Wayne, about a half-dozen joined the protest to pass out literature or hold up signs that said "Beaks Cut Off," "Scalded Alive" or "KFC Tortures Chickens."
The protests elicited both honks of support and angry shouts from passing cars, from "Get a Life!" to "Eat Meat!"
Because Goldsmith also called local media, including talk radio, the protests drew people who wanted simply to register disdain for PETA.
"I like chicken, but I came out here primarily for PETA," said Tony Bair, a 56-year-old architect in Lansing who is particularly incensed by PETA's opposition to using animals in medical research.
"When they place higher value on a lab rat than a child, I have a problem with that," he said. "If killing 1,000 rabbits in a lab gives a cure that saves one child, that's a good trade to me."
But the protesters also scored some successes, and in Ft. Wayne when Goldsmith showed his video to three KFC customers, they groaned and grimaced during the graphic parts.
Still, [the customers] shrugged off what they had seen.
"When there's world peace, we can worry about chickens," said 19-year-old Alan McGee.
"I've never been more attracted to you, Cody."
Would they have cared if I just bought biscuits?
Since it is about anti-capitalism and not the animals, no, they would not care.
This picture and story should remind us all that you just never know when you may need your paintball marker or fire hose.
I never see PETA protesting at a Popeyes.
Goldsmith called local PETA members ahead of time, so in Lansing and Ft. Wayne, about a half-dozen joined the protest to pass out literature or hold up signs
Way to muster the troops, PETA.
If we aren't supposed to eat meat, then why was it made to be so tasty?
PETA activists Kat Erdel, Ben Goldsmith, and Stacey Norris hold fake slaughtered chickens to protest KFC's treatment of animals.
Gotta admire the brass.
Still, [the customers] shrugged off what they had seen.
"When there's world peace, we can worry about chickens," said 19-year-old Alan McGee.
Unless the "successes" are more convincing than what happened in Ft. Wayne, then the bar appears to have been considerably lowered of late.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
After a long day of protesting Cody walks back to campus, alone.
Num Num
LOL, I guess getting someone to actually stop and look at their video counts as a success.
PETA= People Eating Tasty Animals
From the bizarre people at United Poultry Concerns
Dedicated to the Compassionate and Respectful Treatment Of Domestic Fowl
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