The Padre's new stadium, Petco Park, got dinged by PETA: Secret' message makes it into new park Taking a page out of an old high school yearbook trick, an official with an animal rights organization successfully placed a hidden message in a brick on the grounds of the San Diego Padres new stadium, Petco Park. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) had a 12-word statement engraved in an 8-by-8 inch brick -- the commemorative bricks were offered by the Padres as part of a permanent display surrounding the team's new $411 million stadium. The message reads, "Break Open Your Cold Ones! Toast The Padres! Enjoy This Championship Organization!" The first letter of every word spells "BOYCOTT PETCO." "Petco Park might be the place were homers go to die, but PETCO stores are where animals go to die," said Dan Shannon, a PETA campaign coordinator. PETCO, which has more than 650 stores in 43 states, sells animals as well as pet-related products. In January 2003, the company purchased the naming rights to the Padres' new stadium, a 22-year deal worth $60 million. Earlier this week, Padres and PETCO officials discussed whether something should be done with the brick, but PETCO executives had no problem with it. "If you walked by and read their message, you wouldn't know it had anything to do with PETA," said Don Cowan, PETCO's director of communications. PETA, which objects to the sale of animals altogether, has targeted PETCO for months, written letters to Padres executives in hopes that they would cancel the naming rights agreement. They have also sent out monthly casualty reports citing animal deaths in PETCO stores to company officials. PETCO officials contend that they have investigated some of the reports submitted by PETA and most, they say, are mischaracterizations. Since 1965, PETCO has adopted more than one million animals and over the past five years has given a total of $18 million to 1,900 animal shelters, according to Cowan. Over the past month, Petco Park has generated 100 million online and broadcast media impressions for PETCO for mentions of the park's name, Cowan added. PETA has been active in the sports world of late. In 2002, the Milwaukee Brewers denied PETA's request to include a vegetarian soy sausage in the Brewers' traditional game-day race of mascots, which includes a bratwurst, a hot dog, a Polish and Italian sausage. Shannon said that PETA plans on sending letters to the two NBA Rookie of the Year frontrunners, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, advising them to turn down the award since it is sponsored by "Got Milk?," a campaign overseen by the California Milk Processors Board. PETA officials say they object to the cruelty that dairy cows endure as a result of their treatment by dairy farmers.
Once again PETA damages it's own case. I'm all against cruelty to animals but I can't understand why somebody with half a brain would belong to PETA.
I'm usually not a fan of PETA's tactics. (Though i like their nudie protests ). This one's pretty creative and not the least offensive. IF it were anyone but PETA making a mild protest on the corporatization of our public buildings we'd probably think its pretty funny. I like it. Good for them!
People Enjoy Talking At Ballgames Like Orioles Win Series. Sorry, makes no sense. But I hope you get the point.
PETA is stupid. Those got milk? commercials and ads are awesome! I would kill to be in an ad with a milk stache
That was clever but PETA is generally a nightmare. I'm as strong a supporter of animal rights as there is around here and I cannot stand PETA.
So wait...what's wrong with PETCO??? They sell animals and stuff to take care of your animals right??? How do they kill animals?
I don't think a vegetarian soy sausage fits into the races. If it's meatless, how could they have legs?
I think this one's pretty lame. But I love PETA. For the record. I know that's an unpopular position, but I love em. I think they're hilariously insidious. On a semi-related note, anyone see the South Park where Stan stopped eating meat, got really weak and broke out into open sores all over his body? The diagnosis was that the sores were vaginas. The doctor said anyone who stops eating meat breaks out into vaginas until they just become a giant p***y. I've been vegan forever, but I thought that was hilarious.
Ditto. The time they sent Anna Wintour (sadistic Vogue editor) a check for $35K so see she could get a bettery of MRI's done to determine if her "live animals and fur coats" photo shoot was the result of a bioloigcal abnoramility was very well done. To me, yeah PETA is a little rough sometimes -- I disagree with them on the medical research stuff, and I am not as hardocre as they are... but man, they are RIGHT about so much stuff, and they put their asses out there. A little more 'any means necessary' than most folks are comfy with, but I think there is no other animal advocacy group with anywhere near the impact. Sufferring is sufferring is sufferring, and what millions of live animals endure to become buckets of drumsticks -- is horrific. It's rhetoric, but it's the freaking truth. And fast food folks absolutely pay attention to PETA -- negotiating for someone to audit that a minumum of 90% -- rather a minumum of 85% -- of McDonald's beef cows are dead <i>before</I> they get skinned... incremental but necessary steps. If the SPCA is the proverbial MLK Jr., Peta is the early-days Malcolm X of the animal rights battle. Not to compare civil rights & animal rights as causes, but the dynamics of the movement. Tonally, PETA has it right. Being abrasive, subversive -- not to mention increasingly skilled at dark humor -- they are getting better and better. The meat/fur/cosmetic industry treatment of animals is inhumane. PETA sliming an executive once in a while is fine by me.
Interesting take.....hard to disagree with. Actually, I think this one was pretty innocuous, and I also have to give Kudo's to Petco (and I don't like Petco) for not blowing it out of proportion.
