Macy’s ‘ThanksVEGAN’ Day Parade? PETA Pushes for Topical Take on Turkey Float

For Immediate Release:
November 5, 2021

Contact:
Brooke Rossi 202-483-7382

Now that 47% of Americans want to incorporate more vegan foods into their meals—and after PETA caught workers kicking, stomping on, and beating turkeys sold by companies with “humanely raised” labels—this Thanksgiving is poised to be the most vegan one yet, so PETA sent a letter to Will Coss, vice president and executive producer of Macy’s Branded Entertainment, asking him to recognize evolving traditions and include PETA’s “Go Vegan for ThanksVegan” banner on the turkey float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

“If Macy’s famous Tom Turkey float could talk, he’d certainly encourage Americans to leave gentle birds like him off the Thanksgiving table,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is eager to help usher in a new ThanksVegan parade that reflects the fact that many Americans will gobble up a vegan feast this year.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Cross follows.

November 4, 2021

Will Coss
Vice President and Executive Producer
Macy’s Branded Entertainment

Dear Mr. Coss:

Greetings from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and congratulations on your first year responsible for planning the world-famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. To jump-start your new role, we have a suggestion: Set a compassionate trend this year by allowing us to hang our new “Go Vegan for ThanksVegan!” banner on the turkey float.

Turkeys are sensitive and intelligent beings who feel joy, love, fear, and pain and don’t deserve to be killed—that’s why thousands of Americans are embracing “ThanksVegan,” a day to feast on meat-free roasts, mashed potatoes made with dairy-free milk and butter, vegan pie, and more. It would be easy for you to include a compassionate message during the parade—we’ve already mocked up a one-of-a-kind ThanksVegan banner to use plus a sign for the turkey to hold, and we’d be happy to send these to you beforehand and cover production costs.

Investigations into turkey farms have repeatedly revealed horrific abuse. A recent PETA investigation showed how workers at Plainville Farms’ “humane” turkey suppliers’ farms kicked, stomped on, and beat birds with a heavy rod. Our investigator saw workers throw birds by their wings, necks, heads, and snoods (the fleshy appendage under male birds’ chins). Workers choked the terrified turkeys, used their bodies to mimic sex acts, and more. Whole Foods found the footage “incredibly upsetting and unacceptable” and stopped selling turkeys from Plainville Farms, yet other big chains continue to work with the company.

The number of Americans eating vegan has increased by 300% over the last 15 years, and retail sales of meatless meat reached $7 billion in 2020. There are loads of vegan roasts available in popular grocery stores nationwide, too, like Field Roast’s Hazelnut & Cranberry Plant-Based Roast and Celebration Roast, Gardein’s Holiday Roast stuffed with cranberries and wild rice, Tofurky’s Veggie Roast, and so many more.

We hope to hear that you will adopt a new tradition rooted in kindness and encourage compassion for all beings this Thanksgiving with our new banner.

Sincerely,

Tracy Reiman
Executive Vice President