This, my friends, is what I call some bullshit.

While reading my Girlie Girl Army newsletter, I came across this link to a Craigslist ad seeking an African American or mixed race vegan actress. Said African American/mixed race vegan actress would essentially be mocking the POTUS’s State of the Union address, “proudly and powerfully reciting a speech” touting PETA’s progress while stripping down from a business suit into her birthday suit.

Seriously?

Then I found this article on The Vegan Ideal about how PETA exploits black men in its advertising campaigns, pointing out that:

“…there is a direct historical connection between PETA’s use of an exotic/erotic and dehumanized image of Black man aggressively lunging from inside a cage (prison) and its use of the image of Black men being lynched. The very images that PETA creates in its portrayal of a Black man as a “wild” nonhuman animals are synonymous with those controlling images used to justify lynching and imprisoning Black men.”

PETA also has a history of getting women to get nekkid for them in various capacities, from print ad campaigns to demonstrations. These women are depicted as battered, abused and even as cuts of meat. The Gender Blender has a visual rundown of some of the offending material used in their campaigns of shock and awe. And even more evidence of their not so ethical behavior:

• PETA’s 97 Percent Death Rate – Please Donate to Kill More Animals
• PETA protests Westminster dog show (Klan hoods and all)
• PETA promotes soft core porn?
• What Does PETA Have Against President Obama?

I understand their intention is to change the quality of life for animals, and I’m all for that. However, is it really necessary to objectify women and play on racial stereotypes (black men are hypersexual, dangerous savages and black women are hypersexual seductresses) in order to draw attention to the plight of animals? Is there no other alternative to trampling on other movements to gain momentum in your own movement?

I call bullshit, PETA. Your controversial campaigns are not so because of the nudity. Who cares about a nekkid celebrity? They’re nekkid all the time, that’s not shocking, it’s boring. What is shocking is the lengths you will go to in order to get your point across. In this blogger’s opinion, your progress is canceled out by the use of thinly veiled porn and painful racial images to shock people into treating animals better.

Boo to you, PETA.

Image from The Vegan Ideal

“Green” is a relatively new term to the environmental scene. Although green marketing first showed up in the 1980s, with the millennium came a full-fledged green movement. People are becoming much more aware of our impact on the Earth, and can no longer believe the blowhards that claim global warming is a scare tactic (um, terror alert codes yellow through red, anyone?). Recycling, CFLs and organics are becoming the norm, even during this economic poopstorm that is whipping everyone’s butts. Of course, in this great land of capitalism, marketing and advertising hacks see a world of opportunity and profits. How do we clean up the image of a company that is less than eco-friendly? How can we keep those customers who’ve become more aware of what they’re putting in their bodies? How can we shut these damn treehuggers up? Well, the solution, my friend, lies in a thin coat of green paint.

It’s called greenwashing, and it’s all the rage amongst those companies who make eco-shaped bottles of water, and claim that paperless billing or reusing your towels and sheets helps the environment when all it helps is their bottom line. It’s those products that say “All Natural,” “Organic,” and have many shades of green on the label, the same crap they sold before in a prettier, more hippie-friendly package.

Do not be fooled by these fools. Learn how to read the labels!

This applies to any and everything you can think of, from salad dressing to bubble bath, from building materials to children’s toys. There are so many ways these people shake you down for your funds, so you need to make sure you’re spending money on what it is you THINK you’re spending your money on. Sounds convoluted, but it ain’t hard.

This blogger is human, and I am not the greenest greenie in Greentown, but I will not succumb to greenwashing, nor will I let you, faithful reader! Keep your eye on this column for some lessons on label reading (and a little ranting and raving) so you can get the most authentic green products for your greenbacks!