Today’s award goes to People Eating Tasty Animals People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). By overreacting in the most hysterically over-the-top way to a restaurant food promotion, they’ve ensured that a local (one-city-only) promotion has people talking about it all across the country.
Popeyes, a US fast-food fried chicken franchise, recently launched a promotion at Philadelphia’s airport. With all the fuss about fake “emotional support animals”, the local operator figured that a play on words would help sell more chicken: so they started selling an “emotional support chicken meal”. Click the images for a larger view.
PETA promptly lost its collective marbles. It’s produced this hit job aimed at shaming the restaurant into withdrawing its promotion.
PETA’s frothing-at-the-mouth overreaction has, of course, made Popeye’s promotion go viral, nationwide. From a simple local promotion at a single airport, I understand people all over the country are starting to ask for it. Heck, here in North Texas, with only a relatively small municipal airport in the vicinity, I’ve heard folks talking and laughing about it! Way to go, PETA. You’ve probably killed more chickens (for Popeye’s to fry) with your protest than died from natural causes over the past half a year or so. I might just go to the nearest Popeye’s and add to their profits, just to raise a middle digit at their critics!
(My favorite emotional support animal is still the one said to have been registered by the owner of Dreadnaught Industries here in Texas. I’m told that, fed up with all the fuss over the issue, he spent the money to get official paperwork for his own emotional support animal – a longhorn steer! That caused a lot of gigglage in this neck of the woods, as people visualized him trying to take it on board an airliner. The imagined reaction of the poor lady at the boarding gate led to hilarity, to put it mildly!)
Peter
(EDITED TO ADD: More about the emotional support longhorn here, including photographs.)
Excellent! Any opportunity to poke the SJW's in the eye, figuratively of course, is a good one. They cannot stand being laughed at. This is very well done.
People who require "emotional support animals" shouldn't be let out of the house. If they're really that fragile, they deserve 24/7 care in a professional, government-run institution.
And they think we're stupid.
I think of it as marketing genius. Those that despise the concept raise enough ruckus to give free advertising. Those that like Popeye's, will make an effort to get a box.
IMHO Popeye's is the best of the fast food chicken. Looks like I may have to eat there again soon though the nearest is about an hour away.
Beyond registering Tiny the Longhorn as an ESA, I also registered my wife as a ESA in a (as it turns out, unsuccessful) attempt to get a free seat on airlines. I used a picture of a baby orangutan, since the little ape also had red hair… Yeah, I am surprised that I am still married, too.
Has PETA never heard of the Streisand Effect?
Like most ideas that get completely out of control with government support, 'emotional support animals' started as a decent idea. There are people so emotionally damaged that a companion animal can make a HUGE difference in their lives. The problem comes when the government decides that such animals need the rights of seeing-eye dogs, but (typical government) fails to define 'support animal' clearly enough to keep neurotic ninnies with their little yappy rat-dogs from taking advantage.
Of course, this all goes back to another bit of government overreach; the idea that it is up to the government to decide whether a business allows animals inside or not.
The scary truth behind ESAs is there is no actual national registry. It's all basically a number of giant internet scams. Ya pays yer money and ya gets a certificate and id card that you can make just as well with a good color printer and some laminating stuff from Walmart, maybe go high tech and go to Office Depot.
So, well, us in the world that actually use service dogs, well, at least this house, are laughing our butts off at PETA and their continued stupidity. Not enough to buy Popeye's, but, still laughing.