‘I’m ME, Not MEAT,’ Cow Proclaims on Ad Near McDonald’s, Burger King

With New Billboard, PETA Says That the Best Burger Is a Vegan One That No One Had to Die For

For Immediate Release:
October 9, 2019

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

“See the Individual. Go Vegan!” That’s the message on a new PETA billboard that just went up near the McDonald’s and Burger King locations on New Circle Road, as part of a nationwide campaign encouraging fast-food customers to exercise empathy and make kinder choices at the drive-through.

“Just like humans, cows are made of flesh and blood, feel pain and fear, have unique personalities, and value their own lives,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA’s message is that we can all show kindness to these gentle animals simply by opting for one of the many delicious vegan burgers available in restaurants today.”

Cows in the meat industry are often confined to cramped, filthy feedlots without protection from the elements. Calves are torn away from their mothers within hours of birth and are castrated and branded without pain relief. At the slaughterhouse, workers shoot cows in the head with a captive-bolt gun, hang them up by one leg, and cut their throat—often while they’re still conscious and able to feel pain.

In addition to saving the lives of more than 200 animals every year, each person who goes vegan helps the planet considerably. Animal agriculture is responsible for nearly a fifth of human-induced greenhouse-gas emissions and is devastating the planet on a global scale. More than 80% of the Amazon rainforest that’s been cleared since 1970 is used for grazing or for growing food for cattle who are ultimately slaughtered for meat.

PETA’s billboard is located at 477 New Circle Rd. PETA’s nationwide campaign will also hit fast-food restaurants in St. Louis, Houston, and Berkeley, California.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview that fosters violence toward other animals. For more information, please visit PETA.org.