The good news is that the billboard, which features a woman in a bikini and the highly offensive tag line "lose the blubber: go vegetarian," is coming down. Unfortunately, it will be replaced by another bullshit billboard. Former Jezebel editor Megan Carpentier writes,

Ms. Newkirk stated that the controversial billboard would be replaced with another highlighting the amount weight people can lose by switching to a vegan diet. Because, really, the only thing keeping every overweight person from a body type acceptable to PETA is their inability to obtain from eating meat, eggs or dairy products.

During the course of the four minute interview, Newkirk comes across as though she has the utmost confidence in her fat-shaming techniques. Sadly, she probably does. We've taken on Newkirk before, as has almost every blogger and media outlet worth its salt, but it doesn't seem like she's learned much from all the negative press. And as Montel points out, if her plan is to get attention for their cause, it sure is working. He says,

Ingrid, you have admit, come on, I've got it, you were controversial, you hit your home run, it went out of the park, I'm talking about it for three days. And the rest of America is going to keep talking about it. But the truth is, I think Joseph is right. Any child who would use that as a reason, or anybody who now says 'those fat people are people who pick on animals,' come on, we've got to slow down a little bit.

While we think PETA needs a much more radical change than to "slow down a little bit," there must be some good in having a discussion about the negative effects of PETA's advertising tactics, right?

Not really. Newkirk's response to Montel's criticism shows that her commitment to animal rights, at the expensive of human dignity and common consideration, continues to trump all else. She says:

I wish more than anything you can ever imagine that we could not be controversial, and we could not be provocative. I really do.

There is no other choice! We must shame every fat woman into losing their "thunder thighs and balloon belly." Thanks for clearing that up, Ingrid.

PETA Founder Apologizes For Fat-Phobic Billboard, Promises Another [Air America]
PETA's New "Save The Whales" Billboard Takes Aim At Fat Women [Huffington Post]

"They make women strip down, put vegetables over their genitals, and subject them to hours of photoshoots. No living creature should be treated like that!" Oh, it's satire, but the root of the joke rings true, when you think about the fact that, in the ad above, Nia Long's Photoshop Of Horrors is so severe she is missing a belly button (Plus: Have you seen this?!?!) In the video, "PETA" makes this statement: "We have no intention of changing our tactics until every last animal on the planet is given more respect than woman." At least the animals don't get Photoshopped?

Advocacy Group Decries PETA's Inhumane Treatment Of Women [ONN]
Nia Long Goes Nude On The Subway For PETA [EcoRazzi]
PETA Takes the Cake With ‘Save The Whales' Billboard [Deceiver]

Earlier: PETA Disgusts Americans With Adolescent Advertising
PETA's Ingrid Newkirk
Do More Men Really Go Vegan Because Of Pamela Anderson's Boobs?

As one blonde woman throws off her jacket and proceeds to caress some asparagus, drawing it down her stomach and toward her crotch, another scantily-clad woman licks a pumpkin. Yet another toys seductively with some broccoli. As crappy faux-metal music plays, words flash across the screen: "Studies show vegetarians have better sex." The message is clear: ladies love their vegetables.

The general consensus is that PETA never intended the ad to be run, that they never wanted to pay NBC the $3 million. The Washington Post reports that PETA asked NBC for a list of things they would have to do to make their ad suitable for TV. Out of courtesy, NBC sent the animal rights organization a letter with a list of edits that would have to be made before the "Veggie Love" ad could be shown in primetime. PETA then used the letter to garner more publicity; there is now a link on their website that reads: "Read NBC's Sexually Explicit Rejection E-Mail."

So to sum up: The entire ad is a giant stunt, one that simultaneously exploits women and gets a ton of publicity for PETA. It's a rather ingenious move, one which saves PETA $3 million (although, the number of people who watch the ad online is still probably nowhere near the number of viewers they would have had during the Super Bowl). And this is only the latest in a series of stupid stunts by PETA. The Economist ran a scathing piece on Monday about PETA's sea kitten campaign, which is clearly aimed at children, and uses scare tactics to get kids away from eating fish. In a "bedtime story" on their website, PETA plays up the dangers of mercury, while ignoring the many health benefits that come from eating fish — benefits that a British parliamentary committee called "crucial" to the growth and development of children. PETA is also no stranger to exploiting women for its own gain; they frequently use nude protesters, and not just in their "I'd rather go naked" ads. PETA has responded to criticism about its sexist practices by arguing that, since the organization is run by a woman, they could not possibly be accused of sexism.

The Super Bowl ad has already made the rounds online, with quite a few bloggers weighing in. The writers at Animal New York expressed their disbelief quite clearly:

This is of course complete cow manure. PETA submitted this spot for one reason—the disapproval publicity NBC's rejection is generating (this post included). No, they'd sooner go on a fox hunt riding bulls with their bodies smeared in rabbit blood then waste $3 million on 30 seconds of TV ad time.

And AdRants asks:

Doesn't NBC understand PETA played them? That a trap was clearly set and NBC walked straight into it?

The whole strategy, of course, is to contend NBC allows ads for unhealthy junk food from the lies of KFC but won't allow ads encouraging, in PETA's opinion, a healthier lifestyle. Well, PETA, how about an ad that just said that instead of an ad which depicts women having sex with vegetable?

Over at AdFreak, David writes, in a post aptly titled "NBC won't you please take PETA's money?":

Instead of being prudish, I wish NBC had accepted the ad, charged PETA $3 million and put those whining whale watchers outta business when they couldn't pay. Then we could all wear fur coats, eat veal and watch football in peace.

Unfortunately, this is one of those frustrating times when we all want to ignore PETA, but find ourselves giving them exactly what they wanted: more attention. It is almost impossible to not discuss their sexist advertising and obnoxious antics. We're all for animal rights, but PETA has shown time and again that they are not particularly concerned with the treatment of women.

Veggie Tales, It's Not: PETA's Super Bowl Ad Is Too Much For NBC To Stomach [Washington Post]
Deep-Fried Kittens: PETA's Dangerous New Campaign [The Economist]
PETA Pawns NBC With Go-Daddy Style Banned Ad Strategy [AdRants]
NBC, won't you please take PETA's money? [AdFreak]
PETA's Latest Super Bowl Publicity Stunt [Animal New York]

Related: Interspecies Campaigning, Ingrid Newkirk

Newkirk and her work at PETA are the subject of a new documentary that premiered on Monday on HBO entitled I Am an Animal (which left Anna [Holmes] inconsolable for the good part of the evening). And despite the seriousness of the subject, Newkirk still manages to evoke a sorta Karen Walker je ne sais quoi. Of the fashion industry, Newkirk says:

The young designers, in the main, are really great. I think the old fogy designers like Karl Lagerfeld and so on, and the desperate designers like Alexander McQueen who want to be bad boys — Jean Paul Gaultier — they really want to be like, 'Look at me, look at me! Aren't I just shameless?' They want to be outrageous—'Oh, très!'