On my way into Richmond this morning what do I see, but this billboard:

Richmond, Va. - Showing Col. Sanders spattered in blood and clutching a terrified chicken in one hand and a bloody butcher knife in the other, PETA’s new billboard reading, "Kentucky Fried Cruelty … We Do Chickens Wrong," has just gone up in Richmond as part of PETA’s international campaign to pressure KFC to crack down on its suppliers’ cruel treatment of animals:After dinner Meryl Yourish and I decided to have another look at the billboard. She snapped a picture of the billboard, which will probably be up this evening.
The billboard was rejected by nervous advertisers in cities all over North America. The billboard is located along I-95/64 at Boulevard Exit 78, facing north.
Update: Here's my favorite quote from their press release:
"KFC stands for cruelty in our book," says PETA Director of Vegan Outreach Bruce Friedrich. "If KFC executives treated cats or dogs the way they treat chickens, they could go to prison on felony cruelty charges."
Argh....



Comments (12)
“If KFC executives treat... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Matthew Stinson | January 29, 2004 12:55 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
“If KFC executives treated cats or dogs the way they treat chickens, they could go to prison on felony cruelty charges.”
They'd also have to change the name of the restaurant to Kentucky Fried Kittens or Kentucky Fried Puppies.
1. Posted by Matthew Stinson | January 29, 2004 12:55 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 29, 2004 00:55
2. Posted by Spoons | January 29, 2004 1:21 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
I don't feel I can fairly judge PETA's claims until I've tasted dogs and cats prepared with 11 herbs and spices.
2. Posted by Spoons | January 29, 2004 1:21 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on January 29, 2004 01:21
3. Posted by Fritz | January 29, 2004 1:04 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Kids are going to LOVE that billboard! By showing a cute cartoon character stabbing a bloody chicken, PETA is going to make kids think that it is COOL to butcher animals.
Here's what my nephew would have said at 10 years old:
"Look, Uncle Fritz! That man is putting a knife in that chicken's BUTT! HA, HA, HA! That's a crack up! HA! HA! HA!"
Shortly after watching Babe, I told my 6-year-old niece that the pork chop she was eating could be Babe. She just looked at her fork and said, "Yum...Babe tastes GOOD!"
3. Posted by Fritz | January 29, 2004 1:04 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 29, 2004 13:04
4. Posted by Meryl Yourish | January 29, 2004 7:15 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I was too tired to post last night, and too angry to post about the billboard today. I'll try for tomorrow sometime.
4. Posted by Meryl Yourish | January 29, 2004 7:15 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 29, 2004 19:15
5. Posted by Kevin | January 29, 2004 7:24 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I'd be curious to know about the billboard company that took the ad.
One of the morning shows in DC (Elliot In The Morning) that is simulcast in Richmond was talking about plastering it with paintballs.
I'll keep an eye out for your post Meryl.
5. Posted by Kevin | January 29, 2004 7:24 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 29, 2004 19:24
6. Posted by physics geek | January 29, 2004 10:12 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Great. Now I'll have to drive down a stretch of I-95 that I usually avoid just to show my wife the billboard. She won't believe me when I tell her what PETA put up. Question: is it still a crime to deface a billboard with a little buckshot? Just curious.
6. Posted by physics geek | January 29, 2004 10:12 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 29, 2004 22:12
7. Posted by Skeleton Jack | January 30, 2004 11:02 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
PETA... what a joke. Should stand for People for the Eager Truncation of Apprehension. A while back, I posted a funny mpeg of an Ford Ad run in the UK that would make PETA scream. See it here.
7. Posted by Skeleton Jack | January 30, 2004 11:02 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 30, 2004 11:02
8. Posted by samIam | January 30, 2004 9:20 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Too bad they're so worried about dumb ole chickens. What about the poor poodles in poland, or the shepards in sweeden?
See http://www.vigilancematters.com/#013004
8. Posted by samIam | January 30, 2004 9:20 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 30, 2004 21:20
9. Posted by Sean Diener | February 6, 2004 2:30 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
If you have a problems with PETA and this billboard then contact me, since I am the person at PETA in charge of this campaign.
Sean Diener
seand@peta.org
501 Front Street
Norfolk VA. 23510
1-757-622-7382 ext 1580
9. Posted by Sean Diener | February 6, 2004 2:30 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 6, 2004 02:30
10. Posted by Salem | May 1, 2004 4:35 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
As a student in the Richmond area, I remember having seen the sign as I was riding through town - personally I thought it was funny. Who doesn't want to see the "beloved colonel" slaughter a chicken! As a native of the south and a supporter of fried chicken I find PETA ridiculous personally - they are assuming that the plants they shove down their gullet want to be eaten...well I don't know, but just because an animal is all "sweet and cuddly" we're not supposed to eat it because it's inhumane - but what about that poor defenseless cucumber...it just doesn't know what's coming as you put it on your chopping board - so just because you can't identify with a plant it's okay to eat them - but because you identify with a fuzzy, smelly, and quite possibly gross animal (wonder what that says about your self opinion...hmmm) you are going to advocate not eating animals but support eating plants?
10. Posted by Salem | May 1, 2004 4:35 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 1, 2004 16:35
11. Posted by G.W. Bush | June 3, 2004 2:19 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I would have to be dumb enough to be a Democrat to take PETA's animal rights campaigns seriously.
On the other hand there's the terrorist support issue.Now where is my copy of the Patriot act?
11. Posted by G.W. Bush | June 3, 2004 2:19 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on June 3, 2004 02:19
12. Posted by Steph | September 9, 2004 3:27 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The billboard is not just talking about saving the chickens and to stop eating them. Its a symbol on HOW KFC kills their chickens. There are better ways to treat these animals.
12. Posted by Steph | September 9, 2004 3:27 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 9, 2004 15:27