I don't know if this would be better off in Debate and Discussion, but since it's been resolved, it's more a news item. But if the moderators want to move it, that's cool with me. B)
This is what I wrote this morning on the website for ISAA (International Size Acceptance Association], the not-for-profit org that I founded in 1997 to promote self-esteem for people of all sizes and fight discrimination against fat people. Some of you may have seen PETA's "Save The Whales" billboards. If not, you can view it at the WOMBeta blog site I run, at http://womeasure.wordpress.com
08.28.09 - The People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has seen reason and removed the offensive "Save The Whales! Lose The Blubber. Go Vegetarian" billboard ads and replaced them with the ironic but considerably less offensive "Gone - Just like all the pounds lost by people who go vegetarian."
"Gone" – as if to say to you, the public "Gone! We get it. We heard you loud and clear! We removed our 'offensive' ad and came up with something milder, okay?" And that's fine. That's all we were asking for.
This clearly shows once again that all it takes is a concentrated effort sending a simple yet very loud message to those who discriminate. With enough time and all the resources available (telephone, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, blogs, webpages, faxes and postal mail), the offending party will get the message and if they do not wish to continue to be flooded with angry (yet peaceful) protest, which can also lead to boycotts of them financially, then they will change course and correct the problem. This works for politicians, corporations and anti-fat organizations like PETA.
Thank you ALL for your participation in this activism/advocacy effort. It may seem like something small – but in this case, within two weeks' time, you got PETA to replace billboard ads all across the United States! And those ads were berating and hurting fat people every time they saw them, sometimes multiple times in a day. So it's a big deal! Give yourselves a hand, you deserve it!