Controversial Thanksgiving ‘Grace’ Commercial to Air in Ottawa

PETA Ad With Straight-Talking Child Will Be Seen in Top Turkey-Producing Province

For Immediate Release:
October 7, 2016

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

A provocative TV commercial from PETA featuring a little girl who says grace before her family’s Thanksgiving dinner—and turns her prayer into a graphic description of the ways in which turkeys suffer in the meat industry—will air this weekend on CBOT in Ottawa. Ontario is Canada’s top turkey-producing province.

“Dear God, thank you for the turkey we’re about to eat—and for the turkey farms, where they pack them into dark, tiny little sheds for their whole lives,” the girl begins. Eliciting gasps and raised eyebrows among her relatives, she continues, “And special thanks for all the chemicals and dirt and poop that’s in the turkey we’re about to eat.” The ad concludes, “This Thanksgiving, be thankful you’re not a turkey. Go vegan.” Click here to watch the ad.

“Young people have a natural empathy for our feathered friends and for all animals, and they deserve to learn that birds raised for Thanksgiving dinner have nothing to be thankful for,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on caring families to make their holiday table a place of compassion by choosing delicious vegan food.”

Last year, Canadians ate 8.4 million turkeys—and 2.9 million were purchased for Thanksgiving alone. In nature, turkeys are protective and loving parents as well as spirited explorers who can climb trees and run as fast as 40 kilometres per hour. Turkeys in the wild can live up to 10 years, but those raised for food are normally slaughtered when they’re between 12 and 26 weeks old. The young birds are hung from metal shackles attached to their feet and dragged through an electrified bath that can cause them to have full-body tremors. They’re often still conscious when their throats are slit and they’re dumped into a bath of scalding-hot water to remove their feathers.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—offers a free vegan starter kit (available here) full of recipes, tips, and more.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.