PETA's desperation for attention hits an all time low.
August 30, 2001 11:00 PM Subscribe
This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- frimble
posted by fleener at 11:27 PM on August 30, 2001
Sharks act on instinct.
PETA acts on disgust.
posted by Down10 at 11:37 PM on August 30, 2001
posted by davidmsc at 12:00 AM on August 31, 2001
I say, "Go, shark, go!"
If sharks suddenly grew legs and started parading around city streets, I can pretty much guarantee there would be a lot of dead landsharks in short order.
When we go splashing around in their waters, they have every right to take a bit out our asses.
When's the next installment of When Animals Attack coming on?
posted by Su at 12:04 AM on August 31, 2001
Really, there's better ways to promote your causes than by pissing everyone off.
posted by Theiform at 12:05 AM on August 31, 2001
i'm not a supporter of extreme animal rights, nor am i too keen on being a vegetarian. but i would like to see the end of excessive fishing to a point where we're eliminating a species, and some sharks are endangered. and since nowadays, if people don't create a controversy, no one listens it seems, and so peta has to reply on some unconventional strategies, and that's what the spokesperson mentioned. if this billboard does bring these issues to some people, then it has done its job, and i have no problems with that.
posted by dai at 12:06 AM on August 31, 2001
i think it's a bit silly that you would say "go shark go"; it seems out of place to discuss whether a shark has a right to "take a bit out our asses" when the shark has probably never thought that it ought not to do something because it hasn't a right to.
that said, i think PETA is in poor taste with this billboard graphic, and i think that they know it. skallas is right: this is a cheap publicity stunt. i suppose that PETA would rather have people actually hate them as opposed to simply laughing at them.
perhaps if PETA actually had an intelligent plan -- say, to increase education about the environment and the planet's ecosystems -- it would become more than a mere sinkhole for charity given by celebrities hoping to avoid a higher tax bracket.
posted by moz at 12:22 AM on August 31, 2001
posted by Nothing at 12:48 AM on August 31, 2001
I can't wait to see what happens if that spokesperson gets her arm bitten off by a shark. Somehow, I don't think we'd get press releases saying how justified the shark was.
posted by jackiemcghee at 12:49 AM on August 31, 2001
My husband, who is a strict vegetarian for health reasons (and thus is very meticulous about making sure he =does= eat right), believes many of the PETA people have severe vitamin and mineral deficiencies, thus resulting in such poor judgement. I think that's too kind, as we don't know how good their judgement was before becoming vegan (or if they were brought up vegan, how they would've functioned with a little red meat in them.)
Still, PETA people - eat your nutritional yeast! You need your B vitamins!
posted by meep at 1:01 AM on August 31, 2001
who here thinks these are the people who should be making moral judgements on animals, let alone people?
Uh, I think the point is that each of us individually is making those moral judgements. Last time I checked the Constitution, PETA wasn't a branch of government. Overreact much?
fleener: You were taken in by a hoax chain e-mail that went around charging that the uncle was shark-fishing. It was wholly false. (As, by the way, is this unrelated concoction that should be on fipilele.)
posted by dhartung at 1:27 AM on August 31, 2001
"PETA is all about cheap publicity stunts, with little taste or common sense."
Thank you Meep. Nail on the target.
posted by tp3wen at 1:45 AM on August 31, 2001
posted by paultron at 1:57 AM on August 31, 2001
What PETA is doing, alluding that the shark was avenging its kind and assigning human intentions to an animal, does more harm to the sharks then help. Cast as the villains already in movies and books, they need no extra help in being seen as the bad guys.
posted by FunkyHelix at 3:25 AM on August 31, 2001
Now, bacon or salami..? (Could someone please post something else about PETA, then I could have both ;-)
(*) My justification is at self link - which I'm posting because I don't want to launh into my "vegetarians needn't be rabid totalitarians" rant here...
posted by andrew cooke at 3:50 AM on August 31, 2001
posted by NortonDC at 4:21 AM on August 31, 2001
No kidding. If life was a B-movie where sharks are capable of exacting revenge, every day at the beach would be a bloodbath. You have no idea how many of them are swimming with us off the coasts here in Florida.
The child looked like food because it was small and making quick movements. It took a bite to taste it, and took the whole arm off. Then it swam off.
That's not an accurate description of what happened. The shark still had the child in its mouth when the uncle grabbed it (source), and it had also bit the child's leg (source).
posted by rcade at 5:32 AM on August 31, 2001
Indeed!
posted by soynuts at 5:57 AM on August 31, 2001
posted by darren at 6:03 AM on August 31, 2001
Indeed!
posted by soynuts at 6:03 AM on August 31, 2001
Who the hell are these people? What kind of nuts become PETA members?
posted by bondcliff at 6:40 AM on August 31, 2001
posted by Dr Gonzo at 6:45 AM on August 31, 2001
posted by junkster at 8:36 AM on August 31, 2001
posted by fleener at 9:12 AM on August 31, 2001
junkster, I second your thoughts completely. The worst part of PETA is that non-vegetarians tend to think PETA speaks for all of us, and that everything vegan or vegetarian is somehow PETA's doing. It's amazing what sorts of things people ascribe to PETA -- I've been told before in all seriousness (by a meat-eater, of course) that PETA was the legitimate face of the Animal Liberation Front. Even in this discussion, Theoform comments on how well he thinks the phrase 'Militant Vegan Fuckers' describes PETA. 'Militant'! PETA is about as militant as Cosmo. (Actually, it's like Cosmo in a lot of ways, now that I think about it.) PETA is the unradical radical group that eschews thinking and reduces all social problems to pithy one-liners.
Non-veggies: please realize that many of us wacko vegans and vegetarians think that PETA is dumber and more annoying than you do. More importantly, realize that their stupid slogans don't justify you in dismissing vegetarianism.
posted by jacobm at 9:34 AM on August 31, 2001
Ah what the heck, here's another anti-PETA: ... on the other hand, these extreme groups (PETA, ELF, Earth First!) sure do give critics of environmental causes an awfully big target.
posted by Shadowkeeper at 9:42 AM on August 31, 2001
-----
Anti-PETA: This billboard is pretty dumb. I especially like how the left half is, like, "Go shark go! You're a carnivore and, dude, yer totally justified in biting that kid!" And the right half urges us -- humans, also carnivores (or omnivore, at least) -- to "GoVeg". Which is it, people: are animals biting other animals good or bad?
Pro-PETA: Once good thing ... [see above]
posted by Shadowkeeper at 9:43 AM on August 31, 2001
posted by boneybaloney at 11:03 AM on August 31, 2001
These guys are philosophical elitists. In order to remain fringe (i.e. cool), it's crucial that they maintain an image that is intentionally out-of-step with the rest of the world. The last thing these guys want to do is actually sway a lot of people to their cause, because then those people would join them and their group would suck (because, as you know, popular = lame). So they have to walk this fine line between promoting their supposed message while making themselves as unpalatable as possible so that their elitist-ranks don't get diluted by middle-American rabble. If they ever discovered that they were succeeding in getting the public to agree with their message, they would just stake out a new one outside of the newly-revised "mainstream".
That said, I like PETA for the reasons stated above: radical groups make moderate groups (i.e. groups who are sincere in their desire for change) fighting for the same cause seem reasonable. As an environmentalist myself (and a vegetarian for environmental reasons), I say more power to 'em.
posted by Shadowkeeper at 11:51 AM on August 31, 2001
posted by rcade at 12:15 PM on August 31, 2001
With money. Lots of it.
Yeah, including this latest action, which boldly makes a point about human animals hunting other sentient beings close to extinction for such immensely important ends as trophies, fashion apparel, gourmet soup and aphrodisiacs.
Unpopular causes need lots of publicity. Thanks to skallas et al for publicizing this one even more.
Let's see...shark tastes child. I doubt Mr. Jaws thought much about "revenge" (PETA knows this). I guess Mack just thought the child would "taste good".
Why, gosh, that's the reason humans eat meat, right? Sounds like big Jaws is at exactly the same stage of moral development as you anti-PETA-ites, and without even the benefit of much of a cerebral cortex.
Spineless too, in a sense. All cartilage.
Calm yourself folks. Really, you sound just like the whining, self-righteous slave-traders of old, denounced from the pulpit of emancipation. How dare PETA throw our immorality right in our very faces? Why, our entire economy will be ruined if not for these slaves of ours. Whatever will our children eat? And they are, after all, "lesser" beings than ourselves, aren't they?
AREN'T THEY?!
>chuckle<
By the way, and this is important, was Stiles able to get a video of the munched child-arm while it was still spurting? I mean, he is a well known activist against violence and not just a sensationalist/profiteer, right? I mean, he isn't just out to make a buck, right? The violent images posted on Stiles about women really are a protest, right?
And, again, posting child pornography without comment is really about stopping child pornography, right?
And let's see...PETA folk just must be "misanthropes" or, god forbid, even "vitamin deficient" to have such wild ideas about eliminating suffering. Well, on the other hand, I reckon one could say that these nice anti-PETA folk are probably just suffering from that nasty cerebral vessel atherosclerosis. Animal fat, you know. Vegetarians are all oh so much healthier, you know...live longer, better educated, etc. And damn it all, the meateaters I know all live in trailer parks, drink cheap American beer in cans, and shoot each other in the back during hunting season.
>wink<
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 12:26 PM on August 31, 2001
posted by kindall at 1:19 PM on August 31, 2001
Shadowkeeper--insightful post, and all the more reason to look down one's nose at PETA, whether you meant for it to be that way or not.
posted by NortonDC at 1:27 PM on August 31, 2001
posted by kevspace at 2:11 PM on August 31, 2001
Curiously, when there was a fuss here (UK) last year(?) about transporting animals, with people blocking roads etc, the TV pictures showed an awful lot of middle-aged (and older) women.
posted by andrew cooke at 3:34 PM on August 31, 2001
posted by spilon at 3:43 PM on August 31, 2001
PETA runs a booth at the local college during the volunteer fair. However, the animal friendly booths that get the most attention are the people-friendly ones like the local shelters and the WWF. They offer less rethoric and aren't so rabid. You also get more out of helping area animals, than handing out flyers and yelling little old women in fur coats into heart attacks.
PETA...VHEMT? I suddenly have a craving for steak.
posted by FunkyHelix at 4:31 PM on August 31, 2001
Wish me luck...
posted by justgary at 4:48 PM on August 31, 2001
because the child isn't cute and cuddly?
* D O U B L E - S T A N D A R D ' D *
posted by jcterminal at 5:07 PM on August 31, 2001
GO MEATATARIAN
posted by kingmissile at 7:02 PM on August 31, 2001
Actually, this very thread itself provides a nifty reductio ad absurdum of the claim that homo sapiens are worth preserving as a species. It's gotten to the point where more insights can be gleaned from shark noises than human chatter (supposedly our greatest talent).
I think we can all agree that this whole "human reproduction" thing has gotten way out of hand, and I'm personally thankful to see the sharks finally stepping in. Go sharks go.
[uh oh, that wasn't very PC, somebody better start a meta-etiquette thread!]
posted by johnb at 1:21 AM on September 1, 2001
posted by dig_duggler at 10:14 PM on September 1, 2001
Now give me my Squishee, dig_duggler :)
posted by kingmissile at 2:56 PM on February 28, 2002
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posted by mcsweetie at 11:20 PM on August 30, 2001