Cultural Jamming

April 18, 2017

Save the Whales

In Jacksonville, Florida there was an extremely controversial billboard by the environmentally conscious organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The billboard showcases a drawn picture of the backside of a fairly overweight person wearing a bikini. Next to the person there is a phrase that says “Save The Whales, Lose The Blubber: Go Vegetarian.” Ever since the release of this billboard, PETA has received a lot of criticism on their taste of advertising. The backlash of that ultimately caused PETA to take down the billboard and replace it with another one. When analyzing the advertisement, it can be seen how PETA thought this billboard would’ve been successful in the message they were trying to come across. It’s also clear to see the ways how this advertisement came off as offensive and controversial.

When PETA was contacted about what their mindset was when producing the advertisement, it didn’t seem like they were apologetic about targeting obese people, more so women. Their entire angle around the advertisement, and most of their advertisements, is to make it shocking enough for people to notice the issue presented and want to make a change. The advertisement was initially put up in Jacksonville, Florida because PETA believes that there are quite a number of people who live there that are struggling to lose weight (PETA, 2009). Ashley Byrne, a senior campaigner for PETA told Huffington Post that, “Our goal is help overweight Jacksonville residents – the best way to do that is to go vegetarian. We’re not trying to insult anyone. Vegetarians look and feel better than meat eaters. This is a life-saving message,” (Goldstein, 2011). PETA’s Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman, thought that the billboard would be an effective way to say, “Trying to hide your thunder thighs and balloon belly is no day at the beach,” (Helm, 2009). Despite harsh targeted comments from PETA, they remain to stand by their opinions and support their billboard. It’s safe to say that PETA’s intentions are in the interest of saving animals as well as warning overweight people to be healthier by telling them to go vegetarian. Projecting the image of an overweight woman in a bikini really targets a certain audience in which PETA was trying to achieve. I believe their message of telling overweight people to go vegetarian in order to lose weight was effective, but it wasn’t shown or communicated in a culturally sensitive way.

When I analyzed the billboard, my initial reaction was that PETA wasn’t very thoughtful before releasing the advertisement. At first glance, I immediately felt offended by the phrase and body image that was being represented and targeted for their “go vegetarian” campaign. Women at any age always feel self-conscious about their bodies and feel pressured to look a certain way. This billboard is an excellent example of fat-shaming in social media, advertisements, and everyday life. I find it ridiculous that PETA thought it was okay to compare a person’s fat to whale blubber. At first I thought it would have been an advertisement to help save whales or sea life in general since it’s from an organization that focuses on the ethical treatment of animals. I believe PETA needs to reevaluate their morals to have an ethical treatment of humans. It’s one thing to be motivational and helpful, but it’s another to be aggressive with abusive words. It’s interesting to see how PETA does not seem to consider how people would have reacted to their “Save the Whales” billboard. Although, it is known that PETA has fairly controversial advertising methods in general, I don’t think the method of offending people is an effective way to get people to support their organization and suggested vegetarian lifestyle.

The opinions of the locals of Jacksonville, Florida were outraged to see such a billboard in their hometown. People were terribly upset on why PETA would promote an ugly campaign. Some felt it was more harmful than helpful since it targeted a specific audience of overweight women. It can be seen that the brutal methods of this advertisement are prominent because supporters of PETA are outraged by the billboard as well. A PETA supporter and writer of a blog, Healthy Tipping Point, explain that, “Basically, I feel like PETA’s tactics give vegetarians/vegans a bad reputation” (Boyle, 2010). I believe there is a large misconception about how becoming vegetarian automatically means someone will shed pounds immediately. The main topic that revolves around the advertisement has to do with the president and founder of PETA’s beliefs. Ingrid Newkirk, the president and founder of PETA, said this in response to the outrage on the billboard, “Studies show that vegetarians are, on average, 10 to 20 pounds lighter than meat-eaters” (Goldstein, 2011). On PETA’s website, they have a section where their supporters can write blog posts. One supporter had a strong reaction to the advertisement and said, “I became a vegetarian and gained 20 pounds over 3 years. I don’t intend to switch back, but I would just like to point out that a vegetarian diet has pretty much as much or more calories than a normal diet” (Helm, 2009). By knowing that, people will realize that PETA’s advertisement claims aren’t necessarily true. To my understanding, losing weight ultimately depends on how much you eat daily along with regular amounts of exercise.

Further analyzing every part of the billboard exposes quite a bit of controversy and irony with their image and phrase. By saying the “Save The Whales” it can be assumed that PETA is comparing overweight people to whales. That phrase can also be perceived as saving the whales by telling people not to eat them. Initially, I thought it would be about a billboard spreading awareness that whales need to be saved by the degrading environment. After reading the second sentence of the billboard, I then realized that they were aiming to reference overweight people as whales and how they should “lose the blubber.” PETA’s intentions of the billboard don’t become clear until the whole billboard is analyzed since I came to find two meanings to the advertisement. If they were to go with the other meaning that could be thought of, it would mean that whales are endangered of people eating them. That is why they have a large woman in the billboard to show what people would look like from eating whales. Additionally, since it suggests people to go vegetarian, that can mean that people should stop eating whales and become vegetarian to save them. Although, it’s highly unlikely that people are eating whales, it’s still a way the advertisement could have been perceived. It was a mistake on PETA’s marketing team to have an advertisement that could hold multiple meanings to it. Both meanings of the advertisement, whether it be about not eating whales or converting people to become vegetarian, do not seem to be as thought out as it could have been. That could really confuse people on the message that the advertisement is trying to give out. The advertisement in general shouldn’t have been posted in the first place because of how offensive and demeaning it was.

Almost all the advertisements made by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) can be seen as extreme and controversial, but I believe that the “Save The Whales” billboard posted in Jacksonville, Florida speaks for itself. When has it ever been ethical for people, let alone an ethical organization for animals, to fat-shame? I believe PETA’s advertising tactics should be analyzed carefully and should be constantly reviewed before publishing anything to the public. PETA’s focus is on the treatment of animals, but through this advertisement, it seems as though they have forgotten about the treatment of humans. Although, PETA’s intentions of informing the public to go vegetarian in order to lose weight can be seen, it ultimately should have been directed in a better way. Instead of being a health and animal conscious group, PETA came off as inhumane and unethical with their controversial advertisement.