The College Fix

Just in time for the Christmas smorgasbord: the guilt trip over it. Except this time PETA is targeting your kids.

That delicious bite of gravy-laden turkey? It’s like eating Fluffy. That’s the message portrayed in PETA’s recent ad campaign in Canada.

The stark white billboard includes an image of a kitten with turkey feathers and the phrase: “Kids, You Wouldn’t Eat Your Cat, Why Eat a Turkey?”

A spokeswoman said PETA is just fighting for a “cruelty-free Christmas” in an article about the campaign in The Times Colonist:

The billboard, the first of its kind in Canada, is part of a provocative new campaign launched by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and is meant to prompt conversations between children and their parents, PETA spokeswoman Danielle Katz said.

“We figured Christmas is right around the corner, and we decided to place this billboard to spark a conversation about animals and inspire families to try a delicious, cruelty-free vegan Christmas meal this year,” Katz said Monday.

One professor in the article took PETA to town for targeting kids:

The marketing strategy of targeting children can backfire, Brock Smith, a professor of marketing and entrepreneurship at the University of Victoria, said in the article:

“I have no problem with provocative. What I have a problem [with] is when it’s directed at kids — I think that’s inappropriate,” Smith said after seeing the billboard on Sunday.

Smith said his reaction was : “Oh my gosh, what kind of a message is that before Christmas?”

He said he believes PETA is going for the shock value to get people talking.

“They’re probably under the opinion that any publicity is good publicity, but I think it’s unfortunate they were targeting children in particular.”

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