Adapted, (and far better) PETA poster by Bev.
The advertising company have taken the offensive and outrageous billboards down, but PETA are still insisting that they're in the right.
Ari Ne'eman, President of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network shared the good news:
I am happy to announce that PETA's recent, "Got Autism?" billboard has been removed by the advertising company hosting it. The billboard misinformed the public about the autism spectrum by falsely implying that milk consumption was the cause of autism. Such advertising contributes to a state of public hysteria about the autism spectrum, fueling the fear and resulting prejudice that marginalizes us from society at large. It is unacceptable for autistic people, our families and supporters to be used as instruments in PETA's political agenda or that of any other unscrupulous interest group. Our community came together to communicate the need for a swift withdrawal of this ill-informed piece of advertising, and I'm pleased to say that were able to achieve a swift result. That we were able to accomplish this so quickly and effectively speaks well for the autistic community and the cross-disability rights movement. Thank you all for your support.Thanks to everyone who read and shared this information and especially to those who signed the petition. Thanks to Ben Goldacre, David Colquhoun, Bock and the rest of you who mentioned all this, guaranteeing that far more people got to hear about it. It's really heartening to see such wide support for human respect and integrity. But most of all, thanks to Ari and the disability advocates who once again led the way, organised and worded the petition so perfectly, and showed what we can achieve when we work together.
13 comments:
That's good news.
that is fantastic news........and before I could even get stuck into them.....double grrrrr
It is Allie. It's proof that it's worth making a fuss about these things so thanks for your help.
Manuel, nah man, they still deserve a good dose of waiter's ire if you've any to spare. PETA think they've been treated badly by the ad company, they're still pushing this nonsense!
I saw a USA TV slot and mums who were interviewed were saying there must be something to PETA's notion.
Glad to hear it. I did sign the petition. That ad was despicable.
Well done. Now troop over to my place for tea and biscakes and one of them very swish awards that I had made up specially for you. (Ok, that bit wasn't strictly true. But there ARE biccies here...)
I'll email you if I remember about this time thursday......or friday.,...
Yup teamwork is right. Just as well someone's on the ball as so much of the time I'm in my own little family world and need someone else to give me a poke in the right direction.
Cheers
It makes me sad that PETA is still defending the ad.
http://blog.peta.org/archives/2008/10/got_autism_bill_1.php
They didn't publish my comment on this post though. Here it was:
"Bottom line. PETA owes the autism community a HUGE apology. HUGE HUGE HUGE. My mouth is hanging wide open at the audacity of this campaign. I have an autistic son who has been reading since he was 3. With a very literal mind, how do you think a 5 year old would take this ad??? Even if he read it VERY carefully? Isn't advocacy (whether it be animal or human rights) about expanding people's perspective and opening their minds? What if your child doesn't have autism, but has, say, brown hair and the ad said "how now brown cow?" with a frowny face and a tag saying milk is link with the "devastating disease" of having brown hair. It doesn't matter how catchy the ad title is, or what it is a parody of. "clever" is NOT the word that comes to my mind.Please...THINK people!"
I live with 2 vegetarians, and have no issues with PETA. But his is not on. I used their website to report an urgent case of animals in distress - the disabled people that is ,a rare and at times endangered animal found worldwide in a wide variety of habitats. Haven't heard peep from them yet... Wonder why? They wouldn't secretly be ashamed, would they?
Brilliant, although it would obviously have been even better if PETA had pulled it themselves - they might be stupid enough to try and put it back up somewhere else.
I agree Suzanne.
Oh sounds great Nick, I'll take me wellies off and put on the party shoes.
Grand Manuel, look forward to it.
@ Maddy, exactly, without good leadership we might have ranted and whined, but not got anything solid done. The ASAN have done us proud a few times this year.
@ Jen P, good comment! Did it get though and if so, did it generate any debate?
Yes Heike, we're all animals. I admit to strong prejudice in favour of my own species though!
I think you've proven their hypocrisy.
@ Woobegone, I'd say that PETA have got as much millage out of this as they wanted. They created the controversy, got the papers talking, generating free advertising. They don't care for details like honesty or ethics.
Well done on playing your part in this guys. Keep up the good work!
I should say, I've also tried to comment on the PETA defence article and they've refused to publish my comments. Seems they're being rather selective...
Post a Comment