News

Ah, PETA. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals…and apparently vegetables. The group submitted a particularly risque ad for the Super Bowl, which was rejected.

The campaign went viral and now is replicating across blogs and news sites across the Internet. PETA officials claim they were “shocked” that the ad was rejected. But they seem to have put their hurt feelings aside rather quickly in order to capitalize on the buzz around the ad and its rejection.

Go to the PETA site if you want to see the spot. Fair warning: It is definitely a provocative ad.

Here are a few of the examples of the PR the group is collecting:

MSNB’s Ad columnist questions PETA’s motivations here.

The New York Post gets into it here.

And, Whoppi Goldberg does a parody and the gals on the View spend 4 minutes talking about it:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihDLLM7F26E[/youtube]

PETA’s Big Gamble

While the exposure hasn’t cast a particularly beneficial light on PETA, they’re likely reaping the benefit of millions of new hits on its website (where the ad is prominently displayed).

By getting new visitors to the site, PETA will probably convert at least some into advocates for its positions. PETA’s betting on converting more people than it offends – a gamble not many organizations will take.