NYT -- PETA Assailed Over 'Turkey Terrorist' Ad.
November 28, 2002
PETA Assailed Over 'Turkey Terrorist' Ad
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:25 p.m. ET
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- The nation's largest animal rights
group is under fire for a television campaign featuring a
``turkey terrorist'' taking hostages in a supermarket,
which is appearing on only one station.
The commercial by the People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals depicts a store manager being bound and gagged and
shoppers taken hostage, while an unseen terrorist threatens
to beat, scald and dismember anyone who resists.
The terrorist is revealed to be a turkey puppet, which
urges people to stop eating meat.
``I think it is always inappropriate to promote propaganda
that puts fear in anyone's mind,'' said Sherrie Rosenblatt,
spokeswoman for the National Turkey Federation.
Norfolk-based PETA did not apologize for the commercial,
despite a pledge following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks that it would play down its incendiary messages.
``A fake supermarket takeover has zip to do with the events
of Sept. 11,'' spokeswoman Lisa Lange said. ``You'd really
have to be a big grump not to see the humor in all of
this.''
Lange said only one television station, in Minnesota, had
accepted the commercial.
Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company. |
