McCruelty, Tigers, and Michael Jackson...Oh My! July 10, 2009

Posted by Ryan at July 10, 2009 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 14 ) | TrackBack

In the past week, we've been front and center—from coast to coast! Ready to go on a cross-country trip? Here we go!

Starting in the Big Apple, activists staged a fun "Tiger's Revenge" demonstration outside of a Ringling Bros. Circus show in New York's legendary Coney Island. As the locals would say, "Cruelty to animals? Fuggedaboutit."

Venturing out to the Windy City, we also grabbed media attention in Ronald McDonald's home state, by projecting our message about McCruelty onto the side of buildings all over Chicago! I can only imagine the horror on the face of a McDonald's executive, as they walk to dinner on a warm Illinois night, only to see this ...



Finally, our activists drew loads of attention in Hollywood, bringing our meatless message to the mourning masses at Michael Jackson's memorial (I like alliteration—so sue me). As we've mentioned time and time again, there's no better way to stay fit and healthy than to cut out animal products. Just ask this sequinne-gloved Lettuce Lady!



So which one's your favorite? I personally think the McCruelty projections are brilliant. Leave your comment below!

Andy Dick Shocks McCruelty Customers in Chicago! (Video) June 19, 2009

Posted by Ryan at June 19, 2009 2:52 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 13 ) | TrackBack

There are some days that I simply cannot express how sweet my job is. Yesterday was one of those days.

You see, I had the unique honor of helping to organize a protest outside of a McDonald's location in downtown Chicago—alongside shock comedian Andy Dick!

Dressed as an evil "Ronald McDonald", Andy reminded potential customers and passersby that chickens killed for McDonald's have their throats slit while fully conscious, and many are even scalded alive in defeathering tanks. Of course, you already knew that. :)

Here are some pictures and a raw video from the event for your viewing pleasure!

Does McCruelty Specifically Target African-Americans? June 4, 2009

Posted by Ryan at June 4, 2009 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 6 ) | TrackBack

African-American leaders and musicians have long played a major role in speaking out against cruelty to animals. Over the years, leaders like Rev. Al Sharpton, vegan hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, and even Wu-Tang Clan legend Masta Killa have all taken a strong stand against animal abuse.

One of the reasons many community leaders are so upset though, is that cruel companies like McDonald's and KFC frequently target the Black audience with intense marketing campaigns—particularly people in high school or college.

Well, African-American students are tired of being targeted. In fact, peta2 Outreach Coordinator Heather Norwood recently wrote an opinion piece on the topic, which has run in several student newspapers at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Heather gathering petition signatures against McCruelty

Here's a sample of her recent piece, printed at Kentucky State University:

"Whether it is sponsoring a battle of the bands or a football halftime show, [McDonald's] uses its branding power to sell a product that it knows consumers would be hesitant to buy if they looked behind the scenes. As an African-American, it is frustrating for me to see our community exploited by a company that doesn't even have the decency to reduce the suffering of animals killed for its McNuggets.

...

McDonald's is a big company, but it relies heavily on the financial support of communities like ours. Let's send a strong message that unless McDonald's listens to animal protection organizations such as peta2 and makes some of the changes that are listed on McCruelty.com to reduce the suffering of the animals killed for its restaurants, we will take our money elsewhere."

Pretty great, eh?

What do you think? Does McDonald's target specific audiences more than others?

You, a Camera, and Ronald McDonald? June 1, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at June 1, 2009 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 91 ) | TrackBack So you don't eat McDonald's, you've already told everyone you know to boycott McCruelty, and you've signed our petition because of the way McDonald's suppliers break bird's legs and wings, sometimes scald chickens alive, and cut their throats while they're fully conscious and able to feel pain. What more can you do? Don't worry—we've got you covered!

We want the whole world to know just how horrible McDonald's is to animals, because McDonald's sure isn't going to tell anyone the truth about how unhappy their meals really are. We need your help to let the world know about McCruelty!

Since we know how much you love taking pictures and standing up for animals, this one will be easy!

Step 1: Print out our new "I'm Hatin' It" sign (or make your own if you can't find a printer!).

Step 2: Find your local McDonald's and take a picture of yourself in front of the store—holding the sign of course! (If you're unlucky enough to have one of those Ronald McDonald statues at the McDonald's near you, take the picture in front of it!)

Step 3: Upload your picture to your Facebook or MySpace (and tag your friends so that they can see it)! Make sure you also send it to StreetTeam@peta2.com so we can give you points and put it on our Flickr! You'll get 1,000 points for sending it in.

Want even more points? Set the picture as your default on your MySpace or Facebook and take a screenshot. Send it to StreetTeam@peta2.com and you'll get an extra 1,000 points!

If you're not sure what all of this "points" business is about, check out the peta2 Street Team!

Let McCruelty's VP Hear From You on His Blog! May 8, 2009

Posted by Ryan at May 8, 2009 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 3 ) | TrackBack

Oh Bob, you had to have seen this coming...

When we found out that McDonald's Vice President of Corporate Responsibility Bob Langert writes a regular blog about how the company puts "Values in Practice", we thought this was a great idea. Surely McD's would finally come clean about the fact that the company's "values" include slitting the throats of birds while they're still fully conscious and scalding them alive in feather removal tanks.

Funny story: Bob has instead chosen to promote McDonald's "environmental responsibility" and talk about how the company encourages "nutrition and well-being". Sounds to me like Bob doesn't know too much about his own company...

Perhaps we could enlighten him, eh?

Let's all leave comments for our buddy Bob by clicking HERE, and hitting the "Add Comment" option.

Make sure to politely ask him why his company refuses to require that their suppliers in the U.S. adopt a less cruel slaughter method, which would prevent the birds they kill from suffering broken limbs, abuse by workers, having their throats cut while they are still conscious, or being scalded to death in defeathering tanks.

This will send a message to Bob, at which point he'll have the opportunity to approve or deny the comment. Clearly a person who states that he wants customers to "engage in civil dialogue with the people behind the programs at the Golden Arches" will want to approve those comments, right? Only one way to find out...

McCruelty: Give Us Your Slogans! April 20, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at April 20, 2009 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 20 ) | TrackBack

McDonald's is known for being one of the biggest companies in the world. Happy meals, playgrounds, clowns, and golden arches—McDonald's has spent millions coming up with slogan after slogan to get people to chow down on the dead animals they serve up.

Every year, millions of chickens suffer under those golden arches. Birds killed for McDonald's "happy" meals come from slaughterhouses where they're hung upside down in shackles and have their throats slit while they're still fully conscious.

Even though McDonald's has done its own studies into a more humane way of killing, Controlled Atmosphere Killing, and has, by its own admission, concluded that it was far better for animals than the current method of slaughter—the company continues to abuse birds for profit instead of doing the right thing.

PETA has spent 8 years trying to work with McDonald's to improve its animal welfare standards, and originally, McDonald's agreed to make positive changes. This huge company has every ability to make the changes necessary to stop supporting immense cruelty to animals—but has so far done nothing. So what do you have to say about the golden arches?

We need your help! We want people to get the real picture of what happens to animals killed for McDonald's.

Comment below with your best McCruelty golden arches slogan!

Chickens, Seals, and Ronald McDonald? April 2, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at April 2, 2009 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 9 ) | TrackBack

With campaigns against the Canadian seal slaughter and McDonald's in full swing, people have been taking it to the streets to stand up for seals and chickens!

Check out some of the pics from recent protests!

A peta2 Street Teamer, Jessica, sent this one in! Jessica is pretty much awesome, and when we asked her how it went, she said "I was so amazed and happy at the amount of people against the seal hunt, however, there were many who did not know anything about it." She's right—have you told everyone you know about how they can help seals? Get to it!


What have you done for animals this week?