In a new ad campaign, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) targeted the Lone Star State, using fears of sexual dysfunction to meat-shame Texans out of their love of barbecue.
“Meat interrupts your sex life,” decries the radical animal rights activist group on a billboard unveiled Wednesday near downtown Dallas and along Interstate 35 East.
The towering image depicts a cow comfortably nestled beneath the covers in bed where it lays between a noticeably aggravated man and disinterested woman. The billboard chastises: “Meat and dairy clog your arteries and can lead to erectile dysfunction.”
New @WFAA New PETA billboard in Dallas https://t.co/xZDHkwINkR #DFW local news pic.twitter.com/xKuxuVY7Ba
— DallasMetro (@DallasMetro) June 28, 2017
Then, the billboard preaches to a meat-loving Metroplex: “Go vegan.”
PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said, “There’s nothing sexy about animal suffering and clogged arteries.” She added: “PETA’s cheeky billboard will have Dallas diners swapping that deadly date-night steak for a vibrant veggie burger in a heartbeat.”
Not so fast. Texas is a major figure in the barbecue belt, leading the nation with a total number of 5,167 BBQ restaurants, of which 2,742 reflect restaurant locations (chains) and 2,425 are independent operators, according to CHD Expert, the Chicago-based food service market research company that tracks restaurant data. They provided these current statistics to Breitbart Texas.
California trails in second place with a total of 2,664 barbecue joints of which 1,493 are chains and 1,171 independents. Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina round out the top five.
Additionally, Texas, the land of Angus beef, tops the nation in cattle production, raising 12.3 million cattle and calves, according to 2017 figures from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Nebraska follows with 6.45 million; Kansas, 6.4 million; California, 5.15 million, and Oklahoma with 5 million.
According to PETA, they tried to place the cow billboard at the trendy Trinity Groves mall, considered a wildly popular downtown Dallas entertainment destination and foodie favorite that boasts a wide selection of eateries from barbecue and steak houses to sushi, chocolatiers, and even a vegan hotspot that serves faux brisket and mock burgers. The media company repping the mall’s property owner told PETA, no.
Besides Dallas, PETA plans on erecting similar boudoir-themed billboards this summer in Fayetteville and Atlanta. Interestingly, the tri-city campaign rolls out in Texas, North Carolina, and Georgia, which happen to comprise the largest producers of beef, pork, and poultry, respectively, in the United States.
No surprise then that PETA pounds its point home in the Fayetteville campaign with a pig-in-a-blanket, literally, in bed with another sex starved couple. In Atlanta, PETA sticks a chicken in the sheets with a same sex couple.
Still, the left-wing group claims the billboards only aim to remind residents that consuming meat and dairy can put the kibosh on “what happens — or doesn’t happen — in the bedroom.”
However, it will take a whole lot more than a PETA cow billboard with a blaring meat-shaming message to convince Texans to give up on barbecue anytime soon. Perhaps, one Facebooker best encapsulated the sentiments of many online Wednesday night when he posted: “No big deal. Texas BBQ is better than sex anyway.”
Follow Merrill Hope, a member of the original Breitbart Texas team, on Twitter.
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