PETA Vies to Be First on Board the Hyperloop—With Plans to Plaster Capsules With Sexy Ads

The Tab for the Prototype May Be Hefty, but the Passengers Don’t Have to Be, Says PETA

For Immediate Release:
August 20, 2013

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

PETA’s suggestion for offsetting costs for celebrated entrepreneur and industrialist Elon Musk’s much-buzzed-about “Hyperloop,” his proposed solar-powered, high-speed pneumatic transport tube, is simple: Quick! Open the capsule interiors up to advertisers, and PETA will be the first in line with a message that matters. In a letter sent to the SpaceX and Tesla Motors founder this morning, the group offers to buy space inside the capsules for ads (available here) that show a buxom nurse next to the words “Bypass clogged arteries. Vegans are less prone to heart disease, cancer, and strokes.”

“While Hyperloop commuters will avoid major traffic events in big cities such as L.A., PETA’s ‘Go vegan’ ads will help them steer clear of another major event that no one wants: a heart attack!” says PETA Associate Director Lindsay Rajt. “And since vegan meals are far kinder and ‘greener’ than meat, eggs, and dairy products, our proposal is a winner for environmentalists such as Mr. Musk.”

For more information, please visit PETA’s blog.

PETA’s letter to Elon Musk follows.

August 20, 2013

Elon Musk
Founder and CEO
SpaceX

Dear Mr. Musk,

I’m writing on behalf of PETA and our more than 3 million members and supporters, including thousands across California, to express our enthusiasm for your proposed Hyperloop transportation system. We’d love to see this eco-friendly project on the fast track to becoming a reality. We know that the state is balking at paying, but may we suggest that you support decreasing the financial burden by opening up the Hyperloop to advertisers and backing PETA’s bid to become the first such customer? We would be delighted to place the first Hyperloop ad, an image that aims to save something else in addition to time spent traveling: human health. Our ad features a buxom nurse and the message “Bypass clogged arteries! Vegans are less prone to heart disease, cancer, and strokes. Get healthy: Go vegan.”

Commuters know that clogged arteries are nothing to joke about. But as they whoosh through the Hyperloop, they can be reminded that their own clogged arteries can be freed up, too. Vegans enjoy a 30 percent lower risk of heart disease than that of their meat-eating counterparts and also have lower rates of cancer and strokes. In fact, a vegan diet has been shown to reverse heart disease and unclog arteries. And vegans are, on average, 18 percent thinner than their meat-eating counterparts.

Environmentalists who ride the Hyperloop to reduce emissions can also help the planet by adopting a vegan diet. According to the United Nations, which lists animal-based agriculture as one of the top contributors to climate change, a global shift toward a vegan diet is vital. And going vegan is one of the most effective ways to cut down on wasted natural resources since factory farming requires massive amounts of grain, water, and fossil fuel. And perhaps most importantly, because it is a matter of life and death, every passenger who goes vegan after seeing our ad will save hundreds of animals from enduring their own grueling journey to a slaughterhouse. Forced to endure hours in a packed truck in all weather extremes, without a drop of water or a morsel of food, some animals die. Those who survive face a terrifying death, many having their throats slit while they are still conscious.

We hope you’ll get on board with our plan. By working together, we can have Californians taking the quickest journey from point A to B and the quickest route to good health. We’d also like your support in giving Hyperloop riders the hyperscoop—that going vegan is the ticket! I look forward to your reply.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid E. Newkirk
President