Kinsey 1
Ali Kinsey
Rhetorical Analysis Essay
LA101H
Davin Carr-Chellman
5 March 2010
From Gore to Glam: PETA’s New Marketing Strategies
Bleeding animal carcasses strung up from a ceiling of a factory and humans covered
in “blood” lying in huge Styrofoam containers and plastic wrap in an effort to look like
“meat”; these are some of the main approaches that the widely known Animal Rights group
PETA, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has taken over the past several years
in an effort to spread awareness of the violence against animals that occurs in factory
farms. Since the start of PETA’s shocking ad campaigns many people have been opposed to
the group and its attempts to convince people not to eat animal products, wear fur, or buy
animals as pets. Recently PETA has made a change trading its more offensive ad campaigns
for advertisements that target a younger audience, namely pre teens and teens, spreading
the message that vegetarianism is the hip thing to do, something that due to today’s media
is of particular importance to young people worldwide. In an ad featuring popular TV and
cinema star Alicia Silverstone, Silverstone is shown lying naked in front of a beautiful blue
pool at what appears to be a lavish home or resort. The ad proudly reads, “I am Alicia
Silverstone, and I am a vegetarian”, in huge lettering directly above the scantily clad
Silverstone. Various aspects of this ad, including the scenery and the featured celebrity,
display this sudden, effective advertisement switch in the long-standing PETA campaign.
Kinsey 2
This new campaign strategy has been so successful because it taps into the extreme lust for
wealth and fame that is at the heart of young people, driven into them by today’s media.
Today’s society and media have spread the message to younger generations that all
wealthy and famous people have chosen to live in elaborate homes with elaborate scenery
and architecture, affecting the desires of this impressionable age group. In the PETA ad
Alicia Silverstone is lying in front of an expensive looking swimming pools in an effort to
convey the message that wealthy and famous individuals choose to become vegetarians
just as they choose to recline in such luxurious places as the one featured in the ad. This
suggests to young people that they should become vegetarians in an effort to be more like
the wealthy and beautiful famous people they admire. The pool and the other parts of the
luxurious room behind Silverstone are certainly not the main focal points of the ad but they
do contribute to the overall pathos and ambience of the advertisement. This background
makes the pathos of the ad very relaxed and “cool” in a way that is pleasing to younger
generations taught to want large, posh homes in which they can recline like stars such as
Alicia Silverstone. This direct change in pathos from PETA campaigns demonstrates the
exigence of the animal rights group to appeal in a positive way to younger Americans
rather than using scare tactics to try to convince people to change to a vegetarian or vegan
lifestyle.
PETA also tries to promote their ad among youth by using Alicia Silverstone’s
beauty and popularity to build effective ethos and pathos with a younger audience.
Silverstone has appeared in many pop culture films, television shows, and music videos
including the 1995 movie Clueless, the 2008 movie Tropic Thunder, and the 2009 Rob
Thomas music video for the very popular song “Her Diamonds”, spreading the message to
Kinsey 3
the viewers of the ad that those who obtain pop stardom also choose to have a vegetarian
diet. Furthermore, in the ad Silverstone is lying naked stressing that beautiful people like
Silverstone are vegetarians. This tactic is so powerful because young people are so fixated
on being like those pop stars that they worship so extensively. PETA has used Silverstone’s
body in this way previously as well, naming her, “Sexiest Vegetarian of the Year” in 2004 in
an effort to even more fully connect PETA’s ideals to a pop culture lifestyle.
(Biography.com) Moreover, as a wealthy well-known actress Silverstone has more logos
than the many other nameless, average people used in previous PETA ads. PETA
previously tried to use their commonplace members as the main figures in their gruesome
ads but the response was negative, giving way to a view that members of PETA are just
crazy, unimportant people. As a pop figure that many younger people will recognize and
already admire Silverstone is more apt to sell PETA’s message of vegetarianism since she
already has established so much logos with the ad’s target audience. This change in the
persona in the advertisements continues to demonstrate the change in PETA ads and how
PETA is now using many different approaches to target a younger, more pop savvy
generation.
PETA uses this Alicia Silverstone ad to tap into the desire of young children to
obtain wealth and become famous, a desire that is beyond popular with today’s youth
worldwide. Schoolteachers and other figures that work with children have reported on the
insatiable thirst they see growing in today’s youth, particularly elementary and preteen
girls. In a Time Online article it was reported, “Almost two thirds of teachers said children
they taught aspired to be sports stars or pop singers. Many said their pupils sought to be
famous with no discernible talent. A third of teachers said that Paris Hilton, the heiress and
Kinsey 4
gossip-column fixture, was a favorite role model.” (Times Online) There is no doubt that
PETA has decide to gear their new advertisements featuring pop stars towards younger
generations to try to tap into the media frenzied cult that this age group has become.
Furthermore, children have a large say and influence on the ideology, actions, and purchase
choices of their parents and other family members. By aiming such an effective ad towards
children PETA is able to more fully reach the families of the children it targets. What’s
more, PETA has just lately produced a film version of the Alicia Silverstone ad that has
recently been aired on MTV, VH1, and other youth based television channels. In a recent
article by Education Digest it was reported that two-thirds of children between eight and
eleven years old have a television in their bedrooms at their homes. PETA has capitalized
on this fact by producing their advertisements in a fashion that is more accessible to a
generation that is not only star struck but slowly turning more towards their televisions
and away from print sources like magazines.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals hopes to sell its message of
vegetarianism, veganism, abstinence from wearing fur, and overall total animal rights to all
peoples with its advertisements that are displayed widely online and in various magazines.
In particular, PETA has recently changed their ad campaign widely to appeal to a more pop
savvy, younger generation by displaying images of widely known and stunningly beautiful
pop figures as well as pop culture icons including domestic luxuries such as gorgeous
homes and lavish pools. This change uses the logos of these figures and the pathos of the
images to create a serene atmosphere to counter PETA’s past use of the horrifying and
disgusting in their advertisement campaigns. These changes have been widely noted and
responded to and will certainly continue to be used by PETA and other groups that choose
Kinsey 5
to make changes to appeal to a new generation of viewers rather than using outdated and
ineffective advertisement tactics.
Works Cited
"Alicia Silverstone Biography - Biography.com." Biography.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2010.
<http://www.biography.com/articles/Alicia-Silverstone-240974>.
Barlow, Dudley. "Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood." The Education
Digest Feb. 2007: 77-80. ProQuest. Web. 3 Mar. 2010.
PETA. Alicia Silverstone for PETA. N.d. PETA, PETA. Ruth Mortimer Brand and Business Blog.
Web. 25 Feb. 2010.
Woolcock, Nicola . " Forget education, pupils just want to be famous - Times Online ." Times
Online | News and Views from The Times and Sunday Times . N.p., 14 Mar. 2008. Web.
4 Mar. 2010.
<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article3549319.ece>.