PETA — You can’t turn a blind eye
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) use their online presence to disturb people into not being able to unfollow, close the browser or turn a blind eye. Constantly campaigning for more ethical treatment of animals, they spend a lot of time online discussing the benefits of Veganism. They encourage people to try the vegan diet in three main ways.
1. They Tug on Your Heart Strings
Using videos and images of children declaring their love for animals would make anyone stop and watch the video. To this child who loves animals, it doesn’t make sense as to why anyone would hurt them; she even states at the end of the video that she wants to make the world a better place for animals. Doesn’t that tug at your heart strings just a little bit? Videos like these are PETAs way of trying to encourage people to show compassion to animals just like this child. Even if the video didn’t automatically make the viewer turn Vegan, but it did make them research into the diet more than it would be a success for PETA.
2. Showing graphic images of the reality of the meat industry
If you’re harmlessly scrolling through your timeline and you come across a Facebook post by PETA, you are more than likely going to be shocked and horrified by what you’ve just seen. PETA have this effect by showing half butchered animals and the horrendous conditions that they live in. By doing this it does two things. Firstly, it makes people aware of the heinous conditions that these animals are put through before reaching the dinner plate. Secondly, it makes me empathise with the animals which is sophisticatedly done to try and convince more people to turn to Veganism for the answer. A lot of people don’t know how they can help but PETA have numerous campaigns on their website you can sign a petition for, and they also share vegan recipes to help make the transition to Veganism a lot easier.
3. Using Models and therefore ‘Influencers’ to promote Veganism
In a recent article posted on their website, and then promoted on both their twitter and Facebook account, model Elizabeth Turner is interviewed in their new campaign Body by Vegan. A gorgeous model who has the body that is desirable and sought after, is a vegan. This instantly sends a message to the viewer of this campaign that a way in which someone could look like this model is to try turning Vegan. Using famous people and/or social media influencers is not uncommon for a company to promote their brand. It is an effective way to use the internet as every influencer would have their own fan base interested in his/her lifestyle. Fans of Elizabeth Turner may now turn to Veganism in an attempt to live a healthy and ethical life like her.
These are just three ways in which PETA use the internet to help promote the causes that they believe in, there are in fact many more.
