PETA Unhappy Meals Targeting Kids

Kids hoping to grab a Happy Meal from McDonald's might end up with PETA's Unhappy Meal instead.

The animal rights organization lifted its moratorium on the McCruelty Campaign this year and since June has distributed Chicken McCruelty Unhappy Meals to McDonald's customers outside about a dozen restaurants around the country.

"McDonald's markets its food to children by packaging it in brightly colored boxes with toys," Lindsay Rajt, a spokeswoman for PETA, tells Slashfood. "But most kids really love animals, and if they knew that McDonald's suppliers were breaking the wings and legs of gentle animals like chickens, I think that you'd have to drag kids into McDonald's kicking and screaming."

The campaign, though, has parents "hatin' it."

A PETA protest of a McDonald's in Albany, N.Y., upset parents on Thursday, WXXA-TV reports.

"I don't want my son to be around something like this," parent Stephanie Gipson told the station. "This is not fair for a child."

But Rajt says children have seen worse things than PETA's Unhappy Meal, which comes "stained with blood" and containing a bloody rubber chicken, a cutout of a knife-wielding Ronald McDonald, photos of mutilated animals and a Chicken McCruelty T-shirt.

"Kids deserve to be told the truth and we really do need to give them credit," she says. "The bottom line is that they've really seen much worse in movies and videogames, and we all know that kids empathize with animals."

McDonald's told Slashfood that it expects the humane treatment of animals from its suppliers.

Our goal has always been to lead the industry by bringing about improvements in animal welfare including rigorous, ongoing audits of our suppliers' facilities.

"McDonald's works with leading independent animal welfare experts and makes decisions based upon science to promote continuous improvement in animal welfare as part of our broader sustainable supply chain initiatives," Bob Langert, McDonald's vice president of corporate social responsibility, says in a statement to Slashfood.

"McDonald's continues to support our chicken suppliers' use of both controlled atmosphere stunning (CAS) and electrical stunning. There is no conclusive scientific consensus that one practice is better than the other, however, we recognize that in either method, good management practices are critical," he says. "It is also important to note that in the U.S., there are no large-scale chicken producers that currently use the CAS method, therefore demands to purchase chickens from this method to meet McDonald's supply needs are not viable."

PETA says it worked with McDonald's behind the scenes from 2000 to February 2009 before it re-instituted its McCruelty campaign. A PETA protest was expected Friday afternoon at a restaurant in South Burlington, Vt.



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Well it looks like PETA is at it yet again with ridiculous methods of furthering their agenda. When will these people go away? Personally, if these people ever through blood at me for wearing a leather coat, he/she would be laying the ground in their own. Same goes for if some idiot gave my child this, it would be the same result. Personally I would rather keep my kids away from McDonalds, or any fast food as much as possible to teach them to eat right and now live on such diets for better health. But instead of taking an approach like this, they have to do this. As an adult, I can see the humor in it rather than the offensive, but when you have you 5 or 6 year old expecting some cheap toy, you get their "Unhappy meal" contents instead, you are doing more harm than good.

If PETA had tons of money to spend, and had more resources, they would be the most violent terrorist organization in this world. Do this people not have a life or something? Don't they also realize the diet they eat, a living organism still had to die in order for it to be consumed? Also, it's funny that these people are putting their energies into saving the chickens, have these people ever even dealt with a live chicken before? You have have sympathy for it until them things peck at your hand a couple of times, then trust me the first thing you will want to do is break it's damn neck. I am against animal cruelty, but they need to find a better way to go about this. So be warned parents, you might end up with a surprise if you take you kids for a happy meal.

PETA is notorious for their shock value campaigns. Seriously, if they want to spread their message about animal cruelty to adults that's one thing. But to target children with this kind of tactic... Well, let's just say they've reached a new low.

Originally posted by Darth Lumina


Don't they also realize the diet they eat, a living organism still had to die in order for it to be consumed?

THIS RIGHT HERE!!

You wouldn't imagine how many vegans/vegetarians I have left scratching their heads with this logic.

Me: "So you don't eat meat, huh.. Why not?"

Veg: "OMG That's so cruel!"

Me: "How do you figure?"

Veg: "Some poor, innocent animal had to die for you to eat that burger/jerky/burrito/ham/whatever."

Me: "That's rather hypocritical."

Veg: "What?"

Me: "Yeah. You eat innocent plants, who never even get a chance to run away. And who says animals are all innocent. I guarantee that artichoke you're munching on never hurt a soul, yet it's the poor innocent animals? Have you ever seen a rodeo? Cattle are totally violent animals. You ought to be ashamed for restricting your diet to only the most passive, non-violent, vulnerable lifeforms on Earth."

Veg: "...?"



Vegans and Vegetarians are the real brutes!

[edit on 8/8/2009 by nasdack24k]

[edit on 8/8/2009 by nasdack24k]

reply to post by nasdack24k


I love doing this as well because it puts a funny look on their face. They mostly don't know what to say to that, but if they try to say that it's not the same, then it's easy to call them on the hypicracy on this with every sentence. Some get really angry when this happens, others just walk away. I do have some vegan friends that don't bother people with changing their diets, nor do they get lippy if you are eating a burger in front of them. If all vegans/vegitarians were like this, then all would be ok. It's just like religions, everyone has their own ways, what works for you, doesn't work for the rest of us!

Originally posted by Darth Lumina
If PETA had tons of money to spend, and had more resources, they would be the most violent terrorist organization in this world.

I would have to agree with you there. They have a history of violence and seem to be drifting more and mroe that way. If one of those cretins goes after my kid there will be hell to pay for sure.

OMG!! This had me laughing my butt off. My husband works at a chicken palnt and they even have a rabbi who blesses the chickens before they are killed. You know so they are Koscher. They are killed so quickly they dont even know whats happend to them. I love meat but due to health issues I tend to eat more veggies.

Double post. wups

[edit on 8-8-2009 by celticdragon23]

Great post! S & F! I agree with all your statements, Dark Lumina.

My question is this PETA:
How do they think we are supposed to eat animals? While they're alive?

Really? Animal rights activists make me laugh. I think all animals should be treated with dignity and respect as fellow organisms on Earth. But, to say things that PETA does and goto the extreme by issuing "Unhappy Meals"...well, thats crossing a line that should've been drawn a long time ago.

I respect nature, animals, and plants alike. They all have provided me, and most of civilization, with a source of food for millions of years. There are slaughter houses and pretty nasty killing methods out there, I agree.

But, how else are you going to feed the machine?



[edit on 8-8-2009 by havok]

I have had to personally deal with Peta. They shut down a animal shelter so some rich SOB could put up a condo. The people who ran the shelter were crucified. They butchered hundreds of animals, and worked closely with the city to have us ALL thrown out. And then, the developer moved right in and started building.

It's politics, and a form of control. There is NO animal welfare involved. NONE.

Originally posted by maria_stardust
But to target children with this kind of tactic... Well, let's just say they've reached a new low.

It is not the first time they used such tactics. Here is a pic I posted in another thread at BTS about PETA.





They DO target kids which makes them the Same as Mc'D when it is time to sell their ideas.

reply to post by nasdack24k



Well, never met a vegetarian who guilt tripped anyone about how cruel it is to eat animals, The majority of them became vegetarian for they find it a healthier lifestyle.

Originally posted by miss_silver
They DO target kids which makes them the Same as Mc'D when it is time to sell their ideas.

Marketing fast food meals to kiddies is nothing new. Personally, I have no problem with the brightly colored boxes with jokes printed on them and containing cheap plastic toys. Nor do I really have a problem with the MickeyD commercials that play cheerful tunes have children frolicing around having fun. It's nothing more than a ploy to entertain the kids and sell a few burgers and nuggets.

However, PETA's aim is not to entertain children, but to frighten them. To cause them to lose a little of their innocence and replace childhood bliss with traumatic nightmares. If anything, this particular campaign will piss off parents and cultivate negative publicity through a particularly heinous stunt.

I think targeting the children in this manner is simply dispicable and unjustifiable for ANY reason.Traumatizing children?Can anyone say lawsuit?

I agree with PETA's main cause, that animals should be treated humanely and to fight against animal cruelty. Animals should not be tortured, or submitted to any type of inhumane treatment. They are living beings, just as we are.

But that's about all i agree with. Their marketing campaigns are ridiculous. Even though they have a noble cause, their methods of going about doing so are anything but noble. I mean really, frightening hundreds of young kids isn't gonna do anything for PETA, or for the ethical treatment of animals. If i was 5 or 6 and went to McDonald's for a Happy Meal and received one of these Unhappy Meals, i really would be unhappy, along with my parents. I would have had nightmares for days, weeks, or maybe even months. How would terrifying young children with images of a murderous, knife-wielding clown clown result in anything positive? I couldn't watch any horror movies or anything with blood and gore in it, even though I knew it was fake, until I was in middle school. I was very sensitive to gruesome images when i was younger, and many children are. So, as disturbing as bloody rubber chickens are, no child should ever be given real images of gory, mutilated animals. That is just horrible and wrong. And, living in the law-suit happy times that we are, I bet that PETA can expect quite a few shooting in their direction.

If I was one of those kids who ended up with this Unhappy Meal, I most likely wouldn't eat at McDonald's again. But I know that I would probably be scarred, and view PETA as a monster. I would want nothing to do with them again. This can't possibly be helping their cause, only hurting it.

On a side note, the only PETA campaign that I do agree with is when they get very attractive young women naked to protest fur

reply to post by nasdack24k


Let's not forget that most vegetarians eat soya products....the amount of habitation/animals that they kill planting it probably rivals the amount of meat i eat in my lifetime in the amazon.

I wholeheartedly support PETA..

Please Eat The Animals

Originally posted by Solomons
reply to post by nasdack24k

 

Let's not forget that most vegetarians eat soya products....the amount of habitation/animals that they kill planting it probably rivals the amount of meat i eat in my lifetime in the amazon.

Destruction of rainforests to grow soya and palm oil causes massive environmental damage and contributes significantly towards global warming and precipitation pattern change, leading to numerous deaths in floods and landslides - as opposed to a herd of sheep grazing on on hillside, which er, does nothing. I know what I'd rather eat

[edit on 8-8-2009 by Essan]

reply to post by LetTheTruthBeTold

And, living in the law-suit happy times that we are, I bet that PETA can expect quite a few shooting in their direction.

Peta has an ungodly rack of lawyer power like you've never seen. They can squirm out of anything (short of a massive class action with lots of negative media attention).

They are nothing more then a hate group that is free to do whatever they please.

For some kids that happy meal is the brightest part of their week or month. I remember growing up dirt poor and once a month my brother and I would share a happy meal and the toy and my mom and sister would do the same.

How dare they make a kid who looks forward to that hour or so of happiness feel bad for wanting to eat a burger and a french fry while they play with their toy.

I used to laugh PETA off, but I take this personally. Next time anyone tells me they are from PETA I will be the one doing the spitting.

Originally posted by Taikonaut
I wholeheartedly support PETA..

Please Eat The Animals

Or......

People Eating Tasty Animals. They actually had rights to the PETA.com website and the other PETA stole it away from them.

www.mtd.com...