Can the Ham! Pro-Vegan PETA Spot to Hit Airwaves Ahead of Thanksgiving

For Immediate Release:
September 27, 2022

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

In the lead-up to Thanksgiving—and because the number of vegans is growing nationwide, having doubled in just two years—PETA is running a pro-pig appeal from its series “A Minute for the Animals” on a local radio station, giving Ottawans some food for thought about keeping ham off the holiday table. Narrated by PETA President Ingrid Newkirk, the spot shares intriguing facts about these animals, including that they’ve saved humans from drowning, mother pigs sing to their young, and, just like us, pigs enjoy massages and video games.

“When people realize that pigs love their families, feel pain and fear, and value their own lives, they’re eager to put a vegan roast on the table,” says PETA Senior Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA is urging everyone to tap into empathy by tucking into savory soy hams that leave pigs in peace.”

Meat-free meals are already on many Canadians’ minds: Google searches for “vegan food near me” reportedly increased by more than 5,000% in 2021, enough to register as a “breakthrough search.” Every person who goes vegan saves the lives of nearly 200 animals a year and spares pigs immense suffering in the meat industry, in which their tails are chopped off, their teeth are cut with pliers, and the males are castrated. At slaughterhouses, pigs are hung upside down and bled to death.

The ad will run twice on KiSS 105.3/CISS-FM between 5 and 10 a.m. through Friday, September 30.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—offers an ultimate vegan Canadian Thanksgiving guide on its website. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.