• by Courtney Humiston , July 22, 2008

The typical PETA Campaign turns heads (and causes them to shake in disgust and ridicule shortly afterward), usually involves some level of nudity and sometimes (we're being generous here) even helps animals. A recent effort led by Lindsay Rajt, manager of vegan campaigns, involved wrapping half-naked interns in plastic like flank steaks and labeling them FLESH on a muggy 80-plus-degree day in Memphis. Traditional marketers could learn a lot from PETA. Like how to get people to do really ridiculous and dangerous things for nothing. As is the case with many organizations with limited resources, PETA relies heavily on shock value and impassioned youth.

In the press release, Rajt states, "We are challenging people to really think about what 'meat' is. Eating flesh means eating the corpse of a tortured animal who did not want to die." Apparently, neither did the tortured interns: According to a local news source, one intern complained of being hot and dizzy and asked how much longer she had to stay there. They may not be willing to give their lives, but if it was media attention they wanted, the campaign could be considered a success. The press release also states, "On today's factory farms, cows are routinely branded, dehorned and castrated without any painkillers. Slaughterhouse workers sometimes resort to strangling, beating, scalding, skinning and dismembering conscious animals." Which makes us wonder what next year's interns will be subjected to.