PETA takes a page out of the Tea Party public relations manual with their new ad, which conflates a number of different issues that have nothing to do with each other. Much like Tea Party presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, who explained this past summer’s unpredictable weather patterns as her God’s way of soliciting attention from people, PETA’s latest ad implied that a shark who attacked a San Francisco man was payback for human’s lack of respect for marine life.
As one can see, the Jaws look-a-like has a human foot in its mouth with the tagline “Payback is Hell, Go Vegan” underneath the image. The man who was attacked, C.J. Wickersham, was spearfishing when a bull shark bit his leg, and had to get about 800 stitches to close the flesh over his thigh bone.
Even though not many humans are able to translate shark language, this fact didn’t stop the presumptuous animal rights organization from putting out this ad, which basically claims that sharks don’t eat Vegans, that there is a Hell, and sharks somehow keep a tally of all the fishermen and women who compete with them for food.
On the other end of the animal rights spectrum, according to the New York Daily News, some parents vow to burn the ad down if it ever finds a home on their community’s billboards, citing that the billboards can possibly keep their children from enjoying the beach out fear of being attacked by a shark.
“I have a 5 year old son who is already dealing with the fears of shark attacks and seeing this ad will only add fuel to the fire,” the parent wrote. “They should know better then to run an ad like this. Shame on PETA!”
Apparently, this parent won’t be telling his child about the nature of sharks — they’re predators! Either way, PETA knows that they are manipulative in their presentation of valid facts surrounding some human’s lack of respect for marine ecosystems, and animal life in general.
According to the PEW Environmental Group, thirty percent of the world’s shark population is at risk of extinction, mostly due to economic exploitation of the sea.