McDonald’s ‘Bacon Hour’ Giveaway Sparks PETA Protest

Fast-Food Chain Will Face Flak for Pig-Flesh Menu Additions

For Immediate Release:
January 28, 2019

Contact:
Brooke Rossi 202-483-7382

On Tuesday, PETA supporters will descend on the McDonald’s location on Third Avenue for a spirited protest of the restaurant’s “Bacon Hour” push for customers to add bacon to their order. Protesters will screen PETA’s “Bacon in Reverse” video and brandish signs showing pigs in transport trucks alongside the words “I Am Not Bacon. I Am an Individual” and “These Were My Last Moments on Earth.”

When:    Tuesday, January 29, 4 p.m.

Where:    McDonald’s restaurant, 1530 Third Ave. (at the intersection with Pine Street), Seattle

“While other fast-food companies, such as Carl’s Jr., are responding to consumer demand for healthy, animal-free meals by adding vegan options to their menus, McDonald’s is moving backwards,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA will be on the scene in Seattle to protest this off-the-mark giveaway and urge people to keep smart, sensitive pigs off their plate and avoid McDonald’s unhappy meals.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that in the meat industry, mother pigs are squeezed into narrow metal stalls barely larger than their bodies and kept almost constantly pregnant or nursing. Pigs’ tails are chopped off, their teeth are cut with pliers, and males are castrated—all without any painkillers. At slaughterhouses, they’re hung upside down and bled to death, often while still conscious.

According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, the daily consumption of just 1.7 ounces of processed meat—less than two strips of bacon—can increase a person’s risk of developing colorectal cancer by 21 percent.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.