PETA confuses me. They are loving to animals but after seeing this ad, they seem sorta cruel to humans. In an effort to promote vegetarian diets to overweight folks they created an a billboard that reads “Save The Whales, Lose The Blubber: Go Vegetarian” with a picture of an overweight woman. Since the billboard went up in Jackson Florida it has gotten a lot of criticism from feminists that it’s sexist and shames overweight people.
In a press release PETA said:
A new PETA billboard campaign that was just launched in Jacksonville reminds people who are struggling to lose weight — and who want to have enough energy to chase a beach ball — that going vegetarian can be an effective way to shed those extra pounds that keep them from looking good in a bikini. [....] Anyone wishing to achieve a hot “beach bod” is reminded that studies show that vegetarians are, on average, about 10 to 20 pounds lighter than meat-eaters. [...]
“Trying to hide your thunder thighs and balloon belly is no day at the beach,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA has a free ‘Vegetarian Starter Kit’ for people who want to lose pounds while eating as much as they like.
PETA claims it wanted to “shock” people into getting the message that going veg means getting slim. Hate to break it to you PETA but I’ve seen plenty of chubby vegetarians binging on Tofu dogs and soy burgers. I’m all for encouraging healthy weight loss but I think the ad sucks, mainly because it’s from a humanitarian organization. What do you think? Please leave your thoughts below.
CATEGORIES: Ethics, Global Health
Related Posts:
Stay Informed with TakePart:
Get Blog Updates:
Blogroll
- AlterNet
- Amnesty International Livewire
- b-listed
- Boing Boing
- Brave New Films
- CauseCast
- Changents
- Climate Crisis
- Democracy Now!
- Ecorazzi
- EdNews
- Environmental News Network
- Ethicurean
- GOOD
- Grist
- Harvard World Health News
- Huffington Post
- Human Rights Watch
- Inhabitat
- Meatless Monday
- Media Matters
- NewsTrust
- NRDC Switchboard
- Rock The Vote
- SEED Magazine
- SocialVibe
- Sustainablog
- TechPresident
- The Daily Dish
- The Democracy Center
- Think Progress
- TreeHugger
- Truthout
- Why Tuesday?
- Worldchanging
Exactly right, Giulia. Nice humanitarianism, PETA. Let’s just ignore the fact that there are indeed obese vegetarians, and that eating a vegetarian diet is not the equivalent of eating a healthy diet, or living a healthy lifestyle. Vegetarianism does not cause weight loss - eating fewer calories causes weight loss, and if you’re achieving that through spiking your blood glucose and throwing your insulin out of whack, you’re going to be pretty depressed. “Eating as much as you like” isn’t going to help anyone lose weight. Nuts are one of the most calorically dense foods, for instance. You don’t need to binge on the soy frankenfoods to over-consume as a vegetarian. Enjoy those cakes made of refined flour and margarine and as much sugar as you like, kids…
Ultimately, PETA is arguing that our best source of energy is non-animal products. Where are the calories then? Nuts (ok, good), sugar (eep), grains (hello celiac…), starches (don’t mind the insulin), and then horrifying chemistry experiments with rancid vegetable oils… And then there’s soy, but why would you touch the stuff? Sure, yeah, mm-hmm, that sounds healthier than eating wild game (or the organic, free-ranging equivalent), just like our ancestors have been doing for 2 million years… And considering that health research is consistently uncovering the importance of saturated fats and essential fatty acids in our diet, I would suspect that vegetarians would have a very hard time meeting their dietary needs, short of living on a cup of macadamia nuts per day.
And for those who are truly interested in protecting their health, not just their vanity, as well as supporting the planet, here’s the opening chapter to an amazing new book - an absolutely essential read for anyone who is vegetarian or considering that path, or purely interested in health and humanity, as well as the future of the environment (so, pretty much everyone should read this book):
http://www.lierrekeith.com/vegmyth.htm
Check out this PETA video: http://meat.org
It’s just an ad. It does hold some truth to it, on average. But Giulia is correct to point out that all vegetarians are not thin and healthy. Still, a proper vegetarian diet will very likely make you thinner and healthier and there’s no killing animals involved. And since humans are also animals, shouldn’t we treat ourselves with respect and in an ethical manner? One way to begin doing so, is by eating less meat and by finding other ways to lose the blubber.