World’s Largest Catsup Bottle Could Get Saucy Vegan Message, Courtesy of PETA

PETA Asks to Use Landmark to Point Passersby to Recipes

For Immediate Release:
August 4, 2014

Contact:
Alexis Sadoti 202-483-7382

The gigantic catsup bottle that towers over Collinsville, Ill., is still looking for a buyer—but its seller can make a little money in the meantime if he takes PETA up on its advertising offer. The group sent a letter this morning to Larry Eckert offering to pay to place an ad on the uniquely shaped water tower. The ad features a woman in a lettuce bikini juggling vegetables alongside the words “Feeling Saucy? Catch Up on Vegan Recipes at PETA.org.” PETA—whose motto says, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out in its letter that vegan meals are kind to animals and healthier and better for the environment than meaty meals are.

“PETA’s ad on the world’s largest catsup bottle suggests that all people can help animals and eat healthier simply by pouring their catsup onto a veggie burger,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “Going vegan reduces one’s risk of developing diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer, and it saves the lives of more than 100 animals a year.”

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

PETA’s letter to Larry Eckert follows.

August 4, 2014

Larry Eckert
Owner
Bethel-Eckert Enterprises, Inc.
Via e-mail: [email protected]

Dear Mr. Eckert:

I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 3 million members and supporters, including thousands across Illinois, to let you know that we’re fixin’ to help you cover the cost of maintaining Collinsville’s iconic catsup bottle while you search for a buyer who’s hungry enough to bite. We’d like to pay to place a temporary ad on the bottle that features a lovely “Lettuce Lady” juggling fresh produce and reads, “Feeling Saucy? Catch Up on Vegan Recipes at PETA.org.”

Our ad will help those with the bottled up desire to try vegan meals to discover an endless variety of delicious plant-based foods, such as corndog muffins, meat-less meat loaf, and falafel nuggets, that taste great with the “tangy-est” condiment. It will also remind everyone that topping veggie dogs and black-bean burgers with catsup is a delicious way to lower the risk of some of our nation’s top killers, including heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

Every person who goes vegan after seeing our ad will save more than 100 animals every year from factory farms – where cows are often castrated and branded without any painkillers and chickens and turkeys are crammed into filthy, ammonia-filled sheds with tens of thousands of other birds – as well as the horror of transport trucks and slaughterhouses, where animals often have their throats slit while they’re still conscious.

I hope you will carefully pour over our offer and squeeze in a few moments to contact me in order to discuss the details.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Alicia Woempner
Special Projects Manager