• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, April 11, 2017

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) running ads, all on its own, for Taco Bell?

Unlikely as it sounds, that’s indeed the case.

PETA has launched an out-of-home campaign encouraging people to eat at Taco Bell — specifically for its vegan offerings.

The ad plays off Taco Bell’s brand tagline, showing a chicken confronting passersby with copy demanding: “Let's All ‘Live Más.' Would It Kill You to Get a Bean Burrito?"

The ad is running on billboards and in bus shelters located within a few hundred feet of Taco Bell restaurants in Florida, Georgia, and New York. Specific versions even include helpful directions to the close-by Taco Bell location, like “turn right,” or “on left in .3 miles.”

PETA also had its "Lettuce Ladies" hand out free bean burritos outside some Taco Bell locations for the campaign launch. In addition, its youth division, peta2, created a free guide for eating vegan at Taco Bell.

Taco Bell’s menu includes many chicken and beef items, of course. But two years ago, it introduced a vegetarian menu with 13 items certified by the American Vegetarian Association. The QSR currently has 35 AVA-certified vegetarian ingredients, 26 of which are vegan, reports Nation’s Restaurant News.

PETA, which believes that “animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment or abuse in any other way,” has used ads to target various QSR brands over the years — including KFC, which, like Taco Bell, is owned by Yum Brands. 

But the nonprofit understands that making non-meat choices easy for consumers serves its mission of ending animal cruelty. So it has included fast-food vegan options in its educational efforts and even called out new fast-food vegan options on its site and in social media — though it hasn’t actually run advertising promoting a specific QSR up to now. 

“It’s easier than ever to find delicious, cruelty-free vegan food, including at fast-food staples like Taco Bell,” summed up PETA EVP Tracy Reiman, adding that such dishes are also free of saturated animal fat and cholesterol. 

Although bean burritos are among its best-selling items, Taco Bell isn’t publicly embracing PETA’s campaign. In response, the QSR brand’s public affairs rep, Rob Poetsch, has stuck to stressing that Taco Bell believes in giving consumers choices, and is “proud to have something for every lifestyle.”