This past week, PETA released the following ad coinciding with the approach of Thanksgiving. Targeted towards children, it will be placed in billboards near schools in the United States:
PETA has a history of controversial ads that push boundaries. I have always seen PETA’s ads to be somewhat ridiculous, but not necessarily unethical. Most of their campaigns are over-the-top that rational adults, after being shocked by the risque nature, would disregard their messages.
However, I believe this particular is unethical because of who the target market for this campaign is. Marketing to children is controversial in general, as children are very impressionable and do not have the same judgement adults do, and thus are more vulnerable to advertising. If this ad was not specifically meant for children, I feel like it would be harmless because it would not have the same effect on older individuals who can see past PETA’s argument of likening eating turkey to murdering household pets. As well, PETA could say the same thing about any animal consumed for food, showing this argument is not distinct. However, the affective component of this ad brought about by the analogous language and the image of a dog’s head photoshopped on a turkey, manipulates children into feeling shock and guilt. This will especially affect children who are close with their pets and posses limited rationality. PETA spokesperson Alicia Woempner says “children have a natural compassion for animals”, so PETA is aware of this. I am not arguing that a turkey’s life is worth less than a dog’s, but preying on children’s emotions in a negative and unfair manner by capitalizing on their naivete, in order to further one’s self-interests is exploitative and unethical.
Furthermore, I don’t even think this campaign will be effective in accomplishing what PETA seems to want to do. The ad says “Go Vegan” at the bottom. Choosing to become a vegan is a big decision as it is almost a lifestyle. Does PETA really think scaring children will cause them to become vegan, let alone stop eating turkey? Children may feel shocked from the ad, but they have short memories and this probably won’t leave an impact on them after a week. As well, I doubt relying on children to stop the consumption of turkey for Thanksgiving will be effective, as this is a long-standing tradition in society and children are usually not the decision-makers in families for this. The purpose of the ad seems misaligned with the message and target market. Therefore, in addition to it being unethical, it will also probably be unsuccesful.
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Thanks for writing an ethics post, Angelica. This is an interesting example! Kind of scary, too, since children might decide to “go vegan” without being able to understand the health/diet/nutrition implications of this decision…
Great post! Really appreciate the more analytical stuff. I also harbour some ill feelings towards some of PETA’s ads; one example would be the something from organization’s “Got Autism” campaign.
http://randomradical.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/gotautism22.jpg
A little too much food for thought… the sad face was a bit overboard too.
I think this is a great example of un-ethical marketing. Children are not old enough to even determine the meaning of the ad let alone take any actions on it as going vegan would require a lifestyle change by the entire family, not simply the child who isn’t grocery shopping for themselves. PETA is also hurting their own message and image by targeting a group such as children and they should consider the depth of their message and goals. Thanks for bringing this ad campaign to the attention of others.