PETA: Bloody Mario Was 'Tongue-In-Cheek"

[The Wooster]

PETA: Bloody Mario Was 'Tongue-In-Cheek"

It turns out PETA's gore-soaked take on Mario's Tanooki suit power-up was meant to be funny. Har har.

Yesterday, the gaming community was incensed by news of a PETA campaign that implied Mario's recently returned Tanooki suit sends a pro-fur message. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114202-PETA-Mario-is-Pro-Fur] A campaign they spearheaded with a delightfully puerile flash parody of the classic Mario games. Now it turns out, we've all been the butt of a rather tasteless joke.

"Mario fans: Relax! PETA's game was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, a fun way to call attention to a serious issue, that raccoon dogs are skinned alive for their fur," said Shakira Croce, PETA's media coordinator. "We wish real-life tanukis could fly or swat enemies away with their tails and escape from those who profit from their skins. You can help them by never buying real fur."

"No one really believes that Mario actually kills and skins a raccoon dog for his fur in Super Mario 3D Land," added PETA spokesperson Ashley Palmer. "Our spoof is simply making a serious point: that there is a much darker story behind tanuki skins than Mario lets on. In games like Call of Duty, where characters shoot and kill animals, or in Dog Wars, where players have fun fighting and torturing dogs, it sends a dangerous message that this kind of behavior is acceptable."

"We know how beloved Mario is-we are huge Mario fans ourselves!" Palmer continued. "We were a little surprised that the game was taken so literally by some, but we're thrilled that we're able to bring so much attention to raccoon dogs whose suffering is very real."

The deliberately controversial game seems to have served its purpose. Apparently, it's been played more than 250,000 times in the first 36 hours of its release. Ethical considerations aside, the game was actually rather good. Regardless, whatever you may think of PETA, its skill at invoking outrage to remain relevant is as finely honed as ever.

Source: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5860212/peta-that-whole-bloody-mario-thing-that-was-just-a-joke]


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[NinjaDuckie]

The only laughter that came of this was at you, PETA. Not with you. Good job for spearheading the headlines with controversy though.

 

[Thaius]

"In games like Call of Duty, where characters shoot and kill animals..."

You mean the attack dogs trained specifically to kill enemy soldiers and that will rip your jugular out of your throat if you don't kill them?

Perspective, people. Perspective.

 

[wooty]

Well im boycotting my cat, as he only ever wears fur! Such a sicko.

 

[Tharwen]

What does it say about PETA that everyone was prepared to believe it?

 

[JoJo]

In games like Call of Duty, where characters shoot and kill animals, or in Dog Wars, where players have fun fighting and torturing dogs, it sends a dangerous message that this kind of behavior is acceptable.

Haha yes, just as games where you can kill humans send a message that that is acceptable too right? If I can shoot people in COD, that means it must be okay in real life as well, I can't see any flaws in this logic!

 

[bossfight1]

...I can't even begin to describe the level of face-palming this can induce. I... I... I just can't.

 

[Phlakes]

Congratulations internet, they left the bait and you gave them all the attention they could have ever wanted.

You all know the rule.

Don't feed the troll.

 

[Beautiful End]

What we've gathered from this:

-PETA has a lame sense of humor. Like, a 5 year old could come up with better jokes.
-Their game was played. Sadly, that doesn't mean everyone supports their cause. Joke's on you, guys.
-PETA ended up adding another "lame campaign, desperate for attention" chapter to their book.
-Super Mario 3D Land is awesome because it has the Tanooki suit. We should all buy it.

PETA, the only force on Earth capable of combining two memes at the same time: Trolling and You're doing it wrong. I'm just fearful of who their next target's gonna be...

 

[RaNDM G]

I think I also explained why most trolls are dumb as well.

Real trolls do it for the lulz. PETA really did take this seriously.

Troll them harder, my friends. Troll harder.

 

[Undead Dragon King]

I call bullshit. This move is John Stewart-eque.

Say something provocative to try and send a message that you believe in. Then when the move backfires and more people end up angry at you than angry at the issue your were trying to promote, try to pretend that it was all a joke.

I call this move "Putting on the clown nose"- and a great form of cowardice.

Go to hell, PETA.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

If anybody but PETA had made a game where you follow Mario as a raccoon trying to get your fur back this site would have talked about it as if it was a clever thing and all of the people posting here about how bad PETA is would have laughed their asses off.

I don't support PETA, but I have to side with them more than most of the people I've seen talking about it on this one. It was clever. It was clearly a joke. Anybody who takes this seriously forgets, first of all, that its parodying an 80's video game, and second that PETA's entire organizational history is full of comedic campaigns.

Essentially, take a step back and ask yourself: if anyone else did this, would I be mad? If not, stop being so asspained over it.

I call bullshit. This move is John Stewart-eque.

It is John Stewart-esque in that John Stewart is a fucking comedian and this was a comedic action.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

In games like Call of Duty, where characters shoot and kill animals, or in Dog Wars, where players have fun fighting and torturing dogs, it sends a dangerous message that this kind of behavior is acceptable.

Dear PETA, If there was a problem of me being influenced to copy what my fictional character does in a game where I kill hundreds of Russian soldiers, diffuse nuclear weapons, race over ravines on snowmobiles, and murder civilians in airports, having me think that abusing dogs is acceptable behaviour would be the least of your worries.
Have a bit of perspective please, seperating reality and fiction is something a two year old can do.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

In games like Call of Duty, where characters shoot and kill animals, or in Dog Wars, where players have fun fighting and torturing dogs, it sends a dangerous message that this kind of behavior is acceptable.

Dear PETA, If there was a problem of me being influenced to copy what my fictional character does in a game where I kill hundreds of Russian soldiers, diffuse nuclear weapons, race over ravines on snowmobiles, and murder civilians in airports, having me think that abusing dogs is acceptable behaviour would be the least of your worries.
Have a bit of perspective please, seperating reality and fiction is something a two year old can do.

It is true that they overreact, but it is a fact that games make people desensitized to violence. Anybody who denies that denies all scientific research in the area.

It does not mean that one will be violent, but it is desensitizing which does allow a greater possibility of violence. PETA is not a human rights organization, it is an animal rights organization. For that reason, it only takes stances against things that desensitize people to violence against animals. Anything else would be outside its mission statement.

 

[Worgen]

Peta cant really do tongue in cheek since so many of its previous campaigns have been just silly.

 

[2xDouble]

Right again, PETA. We should kill all the raccoon dogs, before they kill us all. Thanks for making us aware.

 

[The Wooster]

If anybody but PETA had made a game where you follow Mario as a raccoon trying to get your fur back this site would have talked about it as if it was a clever thing and all of the people posting here about how bad PETA is would have laughed their asses off.

I don't support PETA, but I have to side with them more than most of the people I've seen talking about it on this one. It was clever. It was clearly a joke. Anybody who takes this seriously forgets, first of all, that its parodying an 80's video game, and second that PETA's entire organizational history is full of comedic campaigns.

Nicely put, this is exactly the kind of shit I do in Critical Miss and no one bats and eyelid. On the other hand, PETA does have a history of being outraged over silly shit in video games. Not in a funny way, either.