It would appear that PETA is yet to let up on one of gaming's most cherished franchises. That's right, folks, PETA is up to their old shenanigans yet again. They are back for round two with their favorite punching bag: Pokemon. Yes, PETA is once again targeting one of the most kid-friendly and (if anything) pro-animal games around, while also taking a jab at McDonald's. How exactly are they doing this? Through another lazily done, poor excuse of an animal rights awareness flash "game". I proclaim that PETA have gone off the deep end.
PETA released this "game" right on the heels of the release of Pokemon X and Pokemon Y. It comes as no surprise that the game practically talks down to its audience, while condemning the Pokemon universe as a whole. I jest you not that the writings you read are direct quotes from the beginning of this horrible "game". By the way, the Mysterious Stranger is a parody of the Hamburglar character from McDonald's.
Mysterious Stranger: "My mother taught me Pokemon are mine to use and abuse in any way I want. And right now I want to satisfy my hungry customers."
A couple of things that can be gleamed with just these two sentences can be summed up to what PETA wants to accomplish here. One, demonize anyone who involves themselves with Pokemon (namely gamers). Two, patronize the franchise for making toys available to McDonald's. Not only are these passive-aggressive tactics, but PETA makes things much worse. Look at these quotes:
Pikachu: "I can't believe you think it's OK to feed Miltank to people. Prepare for trouble!"
So, Pikachu can clearly speak while referencing a quote from two Team Rocket members. That's right, Team Rocket. You know, the organization that exploits Pokemon and uses them for criminal purposes? Why would the main hero of the "game" reference something that he fights against? PETA really bit the bullet there.
Mysterious Stranger: "We're taught as children that we're the masters of the world. We use lesser beings as our entertainment, our clothing, and even our food."
And yet crime, bullying, destruction of the environment, and idiotic programming (much like this flash parody) are still as much of a reality in our world as people who eat meat. Of course, PETA makes it seem like humans are the only ones who have ever eaten meat. Neglecting that the animals they support are also omnivores (e.g. bears, raccoons, pigs) or solely carnivores (e.g. sharks, lions, crocodiles).
"The Pokemon universe reinforces this message by teaching us that Pokemon are humans' property to use and abuse however they wish."
No. No, it does not. If anything, Pokemon condemns those ideals. Team Rocket is one such example of the type of people who use whoever and whatever they can to get what they want. They abuse and mistreat Pokemon for self-gain. That is something that the clear majority of people in the Pokemon universe are against.
The resulting victory over the obvious defamation of these characters gives the player a chance to view a PETA undercover video showing McDonald's cruelty to animals with a Miltank exclaiming, "OMG! So this McDonald's corporation is killing Pokemon to feed them to humans?" The amount of stupidity in that sentence is mind-boggling. Pikachu goes on to say that humans "kill whoever they want, however they want".
PETA follows it up with countering those of us who are against their portrayal of Pokemon in the form of an obese man who looks like he is tripping on acid. When defeated, he turns into a man-child who whines that they (PETA) are destroying his childhood and can't look at things with face value or as fun. Pikachu (PETA) responds with, "In a world where animals are killed just to satisfy taste buds, don't you think it's important to celebrate kindness over callousness?" I don't think it's callous of anyone who wants to have a hamburger. Also, I don't think they are using callousness right in that they are saying no one has emotion for animals. So basically what PETA is saying is, "Suck it up! So long as we are getting our message across, we don't care what image is destroyed. So long as we profit from it!"
PETA profits from the controversy and flame wars they start. They purposely harm the image of things that don't deserve it. Is Pokemon outright harming animals? Is Pokemon teaching children to be cruel to animals? Where is your evidence supporting this PETA? Because the only thing I'm seeing is that you are destroying the image of Pokemon in your immature and needlessly bloody "game". I don't need to see part of Pikachu's ear torn off or Miltank have cuts and bruises, while they explore areas that have trees with blood on them and bear traps everywhere. What have you done to make a difference for animals' rights by doing this?
That is the problem right there. It is the fact that PETA has not done anything significant or noteworthy over the passed few years to really justify going after certain video games. They have only done this for the publicity. They go after Mario over the tanooki suit, Pokemon because it's an easy target, the new Assassin's Creed for the whaling, and StarCraft to remind people that the Zerg have feelings too. So, what else have PETA done recently to even be considered an organization that truly is for the rights of animals?
They have done nothing. That's right, nothing. Nada, zilch, zip, nichts, not a damn thing to really help their cause. I did a search online just to see if they were involved with anything. The first ten pages were cluttered with PETA's own websites, people saying PETA sucks, PETA going after Katy Perry for using animals in her music videos, and PETA protesting the use of a real bald eagle as a mascot for a Boston college. The kicker in my research came from multiple sources that PETA was euthanizing animals that they take in at an alarming rate.
Keep in mind that PETA is the largest organization that sponsors animal rights. They maintain and get a lot of revenue from donations and advertisements. So I ask, what are they doing? Where is the money going? Where are active programs to help endangered animals or research that looks into climate change that are effecting habitats?
From where I'm standing, PETA is wasting resources and everyone's time. They can protest all they want, but they aren't taking action. They motion for investigations against other people, but nothing comes to fruition because of lack of evidence per their claims. They make parody flash "games" of Mario and Pokemon just to rile us up. That is where the money is going: to these failed projects and operations that go nowhere. All the while, they are killing animals they take in by the hundreds because of their bogus policies. A bit of warning on the huffington post as there are images that may upset some people.
http://www.theatlantic.com/...
http://www.consumerfreedom....
http://www.nytimes.com/2013...
http://www.huffingtonpost.c...
http://www.peta.org/about/f...
This is why people don't take PETA seriously or even respect them. They do these things for the sake of self and barely make any strides for animals in recent memory. Although, they proudly do use controversial tactics as they explain in the last link provided above. They try to justify those actions for the sake of getting people to talk about animal rights. The reality of it is that people talk more about how idiotic those said actions are.
PETA isn't doing anyone any favors. They are looking out for their own selfish goals, while claiming they are for animals. Their messages get mixed as they say one thing, but do another. All of these things have resulted in PETA failing time and again to accomplish anything meaningful. It has been over thirty years since they helped the silver spring monkeys and the approach on using cosmetics on animals is still common today. They are yet to actually name a recent success.
Attacking Pokemon and gamers is not the way to get a message across. Even if they claim their "game" is under fair use and parody, they are damaging the video game industry and further insulting our community. If PETA wants to be taken seriously, they would drop these childish tactics and actually do something with their bundles of revenue. In the meantime, leave video games alone. They are not the ones killing animals in droves.
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I just played the "game" after reading this blog.
It's the most stupid thing I've ever seen, I played for two minutes as a Pikachu whilst Cheren kept "disciplining" me and taking down my health.
After winning the match, and for some reason having a full conversation with Cheren...I was rewarded with a "bonus video". The video popped up and started showing me clips of animal abuse such as an elephant chained up, a cat clamped into some kind of metal device and a pig getting hit by a crowbar.
Honestly, wtf? it has absolutely no relevance to Pokemon and it's an insult to play, for many reasons.
PETA, your friendly animal rights group that kills most of the animals they take in to "help" them.
Reminds me of that nurse in Dexter that killed her patients to "help" them even tough they had illnesses that could be cured. If I ever come across a PETA person with a flue I will suggest them to put them down to help them get rid of their flue.
PETA exists because people continue to support them and pay attention to them. Tell your friends to stop donating to them and choose to help more responsible organizations, like the Humane Society or SPCA. The more attention we give to people like this, the more influence they can claim.
This is ridiculous. Nintendo needs to take the Ubisoft approach here and call PETA out for being idiots. I love what Ubisoft said so much that I'm going to quote them here. This is what PETA said about AC4 "Whaling—that is, shooting whales with harpoons and leaving them to struggle for an hour or more before they die or are hacked apart while they are still alive—may seem like something out of the history books, but this bloody industry still goes on today in the face of international condemnation, and it’s disgraceful for any game to glorify it. PETA encourages video game companies to create games that celebrate animals—not games that promote hurting and killing them."
Ubisoft's response was genius. "History is our playground in Assassin’s Creed. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is a work of fiction that depicts the real events during the Golden Era of Pirates. We do not condone illegal whaling, just as we don’t condone a pirate lifestyle of poor hygiene, plundering, hijacking ships, and over-the-legal-limit drunken debauchery."
Basically Ubisoft said STFU PETA, in a respectful yet sarcastic way, and after that PETA dropped the whole AC4 whaling thing all together (At least that I've seen). Nintendo, and every other game company that PETA attacks, needs to respond with something along the lines of "You just went full retard. Never go full retard."
EDIT: Very nice blog and very eye opening links to. I've never been a fan of PETA but those links were very eye opening.
That Huff Post story was heartbreaking (you warned me, I know). :(
I've never been a supporter of PETA, and this blog simply solidifies that belief. They're all friggin crazy; except, of course, those genuinely concerned with protecting animals, from ALL types of improper treatment, not just killing/euthanizing -- those who don't know what they're actually getting themselves in to.
This reminds me of that idiotic Mario flash game they made.
I can't fathom why people would continue to support this organization. If only they did a little more research, like you did.
EDIT:
Just got my question answered. I just told my relative that PETA actually kills the animals they receive, and her response was "No, they save the animals." We went back and forth, with me telling her that Huff Post wrote this (which is a credible source, generally), and her still denying it.
Much like casual consumers who don't know about too many more video games besides Call of Duty, Madden, or Grand Theft Auto (every few years), there are some -- including me -- who were ignorant of what really was occurring (with PETA, in this case).