On March 23, a publicity stunt was pulled to
counter another publicity stunt. Earlier in the month, timed to be
in full swing
by St. Patrick’s Day, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA) launched an advertising campaign, "Milk Sucks, Got...Beer?"
a parody of the ubiquitous "Got Milk?" ads by the dairy industry.
Better to wear a mustache of beer foam than of milk. Aimed specifically
at college students, PETA’s campaign claimed that "beer is
actually better for you than milk," citing a nutritional comparison.
As part of the campaign, PETA offered bottle-shaped beer bottle openers
that say, "Drinking Responsibly Means Not Drinking Milk—Save
a Cow’s Life." Reportedly, this campaign was meant to protest
the horrible conditions that dairy cattle are subject to—in a humorous
way. The week after "Got Beer?" appeared, a Harvard report
was released indicating that binge drinking was responsible for the
lion’s share of deaths on college campuses last year.
It doesn’t take much imagination to guess that the beer campaign
was received with little humor by various groups, including Mothers
Against Drunk Driving (MADD), which charged that it encouraged underage
drinking. Soon after, PETA withdrew its campaign. But that didn’t
stop an "incensed" radio talk-show host from striking back
with his own misguided publicity stunt.
On March 22, Mike Gallagher flew to Wheeling, West Virginia to slaughter
a four year-old cow named Old Blue "in honor of PETA, the militant
animal rights group." Gallagher purchased Old Blue for $850 and
had him executed in front of a group of people gathered at a slaughterhouse
on a remote hilltop. The "event" was recorded for the syndicated
"Mike Gallagher Show" and aired nationwide the next day.
But at the moment of reckoning, Gallagher had doubts. "Oh, I don’t
want to look at him," Gallagher wavered as he turned away from
Old Blue’s big black eyes and fuzzy face (AP, 3/23/00). "I’m
seriously thinking maybe we shouldn’t do this...I really can’t
bail out now, can I? Would people be mad if I backed out?" he asked.
"Maybe we can give him a reprieve." A reprieve was not granted.
Gallagher offered a consoling farewell, and then looked away as Blue
was shot to death. Old Blue was rendered and 400 pounds of his body
were magnanimously distributed to "hungry people" at local
shelters and charities.
This campaign has a souvenir too. T-shirts are for sale on the show’s
website: "Commemorating Mike’s historic visit to Wheeling,
West Virginia to slaughter ‘Old Blue’ and feed the hungry.
The two-sided, two-color shirts feature a farewell to Old Blue, as well
as: ‘PETA: People Eating Tasty Animals!’"
It is clear that what your mother always told you is indeed true: two
wrongs don’t make a right. Both campaigns were irresponsible. PETA
should have known better than to launch such an outrageous campaign.
It can be argued that the ads enticed thousands to visit their website,
and, perhaps, some young people joined PETA as a result—but at
what cost? The fact remains that "Got Beer?" trivialized two
serious realities: that alcohol is a major problem on college campuses;
and that dairy cows—particularly those on factory-like farms—suffer
enormously, from being kept perpetually pregnant, deprived of their
offspring, pumped full of hormones and antibiotics and, generally,
confined
to an unnaturally brief and miserable life indoors. Neither of these
are matters to be treated lightly.
Yet, PETA reduced both issues to a superficial snappy slogan. The result? "Got Beer?" was perceived by people concerned with alcoholism
among the young as trivializing a serious problem, thus alienating caring
people who otherwise might take to heart a message of compassion toward
all creatures. Instead, MADD got mad; a group that animal advocates
didn’t need to antagonize. This by-any-means-necessary PETA campaign
made caring animal-friendly individuals seem insensitive, ridiculous
and fanatical. "Got Beer?" did nothing substantial to relieve
the suffering of cows.
And who was the real loser here? In a strange ironic twist, a publicity
campaign that encouraged people to "Save a Cow’s Life" prompted
the murder of a cow: Old Blue.
The "Mike Gallagher Show" is self-described as such: "If
you want to take part in a show that talks about life: challenges that
parents face daily—then you’ve come to the right place."
Alcohol is a challenge that parents face daily. But Gallagher hardly
addressed this issue when he had Old Blue shot to death. Gallagher didn’t
talk "about life." Instead, he violently extinguished someone
else’s life—Old Blue’s. Gun violence is also a major
challenge that faces our society. Gallagher didn’t talk about the
gun that was used to murder Blue either. This "stunt" was
about power. This was a cynical attack against PETA, a bludgeoning
of
people who sincerely care about the world and the creatures we share
it with. This is not exactly model behavior.
Abusing and murdering creatures to get back at people is alarmingly
effective and terribly sadistic. Sadly, it is also a common occurrence
that underscores problems of brutal violence and anger that appear
to
be endemic to our society—against fellow humans and nonhumans alike.
What is additionally disturbing is that, in the case of animals, there
is little legal recourse. According to the "rules," Old Blue
was after all Gallagher’s "property."
So, what can we get from all of this? It is telling that Gallagher
didn’t
shoot Old Blue himself. Perhaps Blue’s black eyes might haunt
Gallagher and warm his heart at some future point. We can continue
to remind him
of how cruel he was and hope for the best. In the meantime, we have
to hold ourselves responsible for our actions and encourage each other
to act responsibly.
As the largest animal rights organization in the country, PETA has
the responsibility of setting forth an example. More than any other
group,
it’s the face of PETA that is seen by the public as representing
animal advocates and vegetarians in this country. Everyone will agree
that PETA has been enormously successful in bringing public attention
to the suffering of animals. It is in great part due to PETA that "animal
rights" is a concept that is on the radar screen of the general
public, and they have played a major role in the rise of vegetarianism
nationwide. There’s a long road ahead of us, but we can do better
than "Got Beer?" How about "Got Soymilk?"
I recently saw a surprising thing on the news show "20/20."
John Stossel’s "Give me a Break" segment took the National
Milk Producers Federation to task for taking action against "Silk
Soymilk" to get them to stop calling its product "milk."
I watched, amazed that the word "soymilk" was being thrown
around on primetime national television. In an interview, dairy spokesmen
complained that consumers might be misled, and that they only want a
"level the playing field." As if people would misread soymilk
and think it’s milk. Stossel countered with a zinger: "You
don’t want a level playing field. You want to stack the deck."
I was stunned. Someone actually stood up to the "sacred cow"—the
dairy industry! Stossel conducted a tastetest in a local supermarket.
Most everyone liked the soymilk, some weren’t told what they were
drinking and they preferred milk from soybeans to milk from cows. Soymilk
may not seem as sexy as beer, but people are getting the message, folks,
and it’s up to us to help it to continue to spread.
Contact: The Mike Gallagher Show, 350 Fifth Ave., #1818, New York,
NY 10118; Mike Gallagher’s Email: mike@mikeonline.com,
the show’s producer, Ron Mitchell: rmitchell@mikeonline.com;
Show’s website: www.mikeonline.com.
PETA, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; Tel. (757) 622-PETA; website:
www.peta-online.org; PETA’s
anti-milk campaign: www.milksucks.com.
For a full transcript of the "Give me a Break" segment, visit
the "20/20" section at www.abcnews.go.com
and scroll down to the link to John Stossel (air date 3/24/00).
