Jul 18, 2008 2:02 pm US/Central
Anti-Meat Ads Appear On CTA Buses, Trains
Ads Show Farm Animals, Encourage People To Choose Vegetarian
CHICAGO (STNG) ―
They might not be graphic enough to keep a few CTA passengers from sneaking a bite on a hamburger.
Just a little food for thought to force some to think twice about eating meat.
Ads depicting cows, pigs and hens in cramped, dirty cages and gestation quarters are staring CTA commuters in the face as part of Mercy For Animals' two-month anti-meat campaign.
"Our goal is not shock value," said Nathan Runkle, the Chicago-based animal-rights group's executive director. "These really are rather mild images of what happens to farmed animals. We haven't shown the gory slaughterhouse photos that I think people would be even more shocked and appalled by."
So far, Runkle says, he has had a lot of positive response to the 600 "How Much Cruelty Can You Swallow?" ads on the Red, Brown and Blue Line 'L's and some buses.
But Jay Thomas, who saw the ads Thursday, said she was more convinced to curb her appetite for pork by watching the live slaughter of the pig. The ad "doesn't look really cruel to me," said Thomas, 24. "It just looks like regular farm animals."
Mercy For Animals ran an anti-fur ad campaign on the Red Line two years ago, featuring an image of a baby fox with the tagline, "She needs her fur more than you do."
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2006. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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