For PETA's Sakes!

I guess PETA doesn't think it needs donations from the plus-size community.

Because it sure ain't gonna be gettin' any NOW.

PETA, which rhymes with the bread but actually stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has proven that they need to work on the ethical treatment of humans.

Billboards have gone up in Jacksonville, FL trumpeting the benefits of going vegetarian as a way to slim down.

So far, so good.

But the image PETA chose to use is that of an obese woman (the back of her, anyway) spilling out of a bikini, on a beach. The words that accompany the image are, "Save the Whales. Lose the blubber. Go vegetarian."

There are no whales on the billboard, even though "Whales", by far, is the biggest and most prominent word displayed.

Get it?

Ha ha---boy, that's so funny, my sides are splitting!

Not.


The billboard in question


How could PETA possibly think that making fun of overweight women---especially when the female gender is far more sensitive to weight than their male counterparts---is a good way of endearing itself to that sector of folks?

Plus-size women have money, too. They have compassion, too. They like animals, too.

So seeing a billboard as offensive as this is supposed to make them want to break out the checkbook?

Now, the message is to go vegetarian, but PETA is also an organization that relies on donations to keep afloat.

And, I gotta say, I'll bet there are some "plus-size" men who are offended, too.

The lumping of the plus-size gals with whales is so juvenile and remedial that it's flabbergasting that such a comparison could find its way onto a billboard.

"Hey, but it's got people talking!"

Sure---but are they donating?

The billboard is a blatant attempt to shame people whose self-esteem may already be suffering, into drastically changing their lifestyle, so PETA can further its agenda.

And they have "ethical" in their acronym?

Speaking of shame, PETA doesn't seem to feel any of it.

"Trying to hide your thunder thighs and balloon belly is no day at the beach," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "PETA has a free 'Vegetarian Starter Kit' for people who want to lose pounds while eating as much as they like."

Thunder thighs. Balloon belly.

No day at the beach---oh, she's so clever!

I'm not usually one to cry foul when it comes to advertising or comedy bits. If we never poked fun at any ethnic group or class of people or club or organization, we'd never laugh. And a lot of that laughter is at our own expense.

Just look at the Celebrity Roasts. If those jokes were taken at face value, the courts would be even more awash with defamation lawsuits than they already are.

But there is such a thing as going too far. True, it's sometimes hard to see that line drawn in the sand---no pun intended---but sometimes you just "know."

Someone at PETA should have winced and said, "Let's tone it down a bit. Maybe we can advance our cause and deliver our message in a different yet still funny way."

Certainly there are women who work for PETA besides the laugh riot Tracy Reiman. And I doubt they're all size fours. So why didn't one of them raise their hand---or better, their voice---and say, "No way, Jose!"

Tsk, tsk.