PETA made an attempt to get some cats adopted by using a clever new tag line. Honestly, it was BRILLIANT and I hope a lot of kitties were adopted because of it.
PETA claimed that they simply wanted to turn a nasty situation into something good. Needless to say, some people were quite pissed.
Daily Mail has the full story:
An animal rights organisation has been blasted for taking inspiration from US presidential candidate Donald Trump and telling people to ‘grab a pussy’.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Foundation has printed posters for its new advertising campaign which show a reclining cat below the words, coloured with an American flag.
The group hopes the slogan, which they claim to intend to mean adopt a cat, will entice people find home for rescue cats around the globe.
But the move has been criticised by those who say it trivialises sexual assault after Donald Trump was heard making lewd comments about women in a voice recording from 2005.
The PETA slogan has provoked a furious response from people on social media, pictured
@pastelfeminist said on Twitter: ‘Yes Peta. Let’s take this time to use sexual abuse as a marketing gimmick to adopt cats. Way to Go.’
Another user Tweeted: ‘I am a proud vegan and animalist but using rape culture to promote your work is terribly wrong.’
Last week, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was forced to apologise when the video clip emerged from 2005.
In the clip, he was heard saying: ‘You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful [women] – I just start kissing them […] And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything.’
‘Grab them by the p****. You can do anything.’
A Peta spokesperson said: ‘We are currently talking with billboard companies to see how many will be available in London before the US election on 8 November.
Peta said it was ‘taking something hideous and making it good’ but has been accused of ‘ridiculing sexual assault’ on Twitter
The organisation has also been accused of ‘exploiting pain and suffering’, pictured
‘Every day, we hear reports of local rescue centres that have reached the crisis point because they are bursting at the seams with abandoned cats.
‘Cats Protection and the RSPCA alone report receiving more than 30,000 calls a year regarding stray cats, and more than 100,000 stray dogs are picked up off UK streets by councils every year.
‘We know that the public will get the humour, that people will do a double-take, and that it will prompt discussions – and we hope more than a few homeless cats will be adopted as a result,’ the spokesperson said.
‘Already, one billboard company has said yes to Peta US for an ad in New York City, but space won’t be available until December, and we’re trying to get it placed sooner than that. Every minute counts if you’re a kitten with nowhere to go.’
The organisation is well-known for its provocative and shocking advertising campaigns.
A 2010 poster showing Pamela Anderson in a bikini with her body parts labelled as if she were a piece of meat was banned in Montreal by officials who said it was sexist.
Peta responded to criticism on Twitter, saying: ‘Peta takes both issues seriously but the sensationalism of this election has rendered many other important issues invisible.
‘We took something hideous and made it into something good. Outrage is not enough, action is everything’.
