PETA's 'Turkey Terror' Ad in Honolulu to Serve Thanksgiving Food For Thought

Holiday Is Murder on Turkeys, Says Group

For Immediate Release:
November 8, 2012

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

Honolulu -- Just in time for Thanksgiving, PETA's quirky "Turkey Terror" TV spot is headed to Honolulu. In the ad, which the group hopes to run on local TV stations in the weeks leading up to the holiday, a shaky voice takes over a grocery-store intercom, saying, "Do exactly as I say, and nobody gets hurt! Resist, and innocent creatures will be beaten, scalded alive, dismembered, and their throats will be slit." The scene ends when the voice is revealed to belong to a "turkey," who says, "It's your choice, but if you know what's good for you, you'll meet my one simple demand: Go vegetarian!"

"PETA's ad is a lighthearted way to point out that Thanksgiving represents immense suffering and a violent death for millions of turkeys," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "Vegan meals are a delicious, healthy, and humane way to celebrate the holiday—and they give turkeys something to be thankful for, too."

Approximately 250 million turkeys are killed in the U.S. every year—including more than 45 million for Thanksgiving dinners alone. In nature, turkeys are protective and loving parents as well as spirited explorers who can climb trees and run as fast as 18 miles per hour. But most turkeys slated to be killed for food are crammed into filthy warehouses, where disease, smothering, and heart attacks are common. Turkeys are drugged and bred to grow such unnaturally large upper bodies that their legs often become crippled under the weight.

And the terror doesn't stop there: A PETA undercover investigation of turkey factory farms documented that workers punched, threw, and kicked live birds; bludgeoned birds with pipes, pieces of wood, and tools; deliberately broke turkeys' necks and other bones; stomped on birds' heads; forcefully shoved feces into birds' mouths; held birds' heads under water; and urinated in a turkey pen.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.