First-Ever Anti-Speciesism Ads Land at 75 Airports

RZA and PETA Ask Passengers to Take Onboard the Message ‘We Are All the Same in All the Ways That Matter’

For Immediate Release:
August 19, 2021

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

Tens of millions of Labor Day travelers are set to receive a social justice message from Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, who stars in a PETA PSA now running on televisions at 75 major airports in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. In it, RZA challenges speciesism—the belief that, despite their extraordinary talents and abilities, all other animal species are inferior to humans. As author Alice Walker wrote, “The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites, or women created for men.”

“It doesn’t matter if we have fur or feathers or fins,” says RZA as his face appears to morph into images of different men, women, and other animals, from bears to birds and beyond. “We all have thoughts and feelings. … Our task must be to break free from prejudice and to see ourselves in everyone else.”

Speciesism is used to justify caging highly social primates alone in steel laboratory cages; killing billions of cows, chickens, pigs, and others for food; mutilating sheep for their wool; and whipping tigers into performing tricks. PETA encourages everyone to combat this systematic oppression by buying cosmetics that weren’t tested on animals, choosing vegan food and fashion, staying away from animal circuses, and otherwise rejecting the exploitation of animals.

The ad is running through October 5 at major airports in dozens of cities, including Chicago (O’Hare), Los Angeles (LAX), the New York area (JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark), and London (Gatwick and Heathrow).

PETA’s motto reads, “Animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way.” For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.