Young Moviegoers to See Thanksgiving Through a Turkey’s Eyes Ahead of ‘Moana 2,’ ‘Wicked’
For Immediate Release:
November 19, 2024
Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382
Make way, make way!Parents may be scrambling to add vegan options to their holiday feasts after seeingMoana 2—along with Wicked and other highly anticipated movies opening ahead of Thanksgiving—thanks to a family-friendly holiday short running in movie theaters, courtesy of PETA. The spot—starring a beguiling little bird named Toby the Turkey—shows audiences thatturkeys feel joy, pain, and fear just as humans do, and may prompt naturally empathetic littles to take adults to task over Thanksgiving’s meaty main course. PETA’s spot will run in theaters in Indiana, Minnesota, and Kansas, which are home to some of the top turkey-producing operations in the country.
The video opens with Toby—a beloved member of a human family—watching TV in a cozy home, only to be confronted by a horrifying ad for a turkey dinner. Panicked, he races around the house, right into the arms of his adoptive human mother. As a few of his feathers fall to the floor, no one knows what happens to Toby—until the final scene, which, to the viewer’s relief, shows him at the table, not on it, tucking into a savory vegan roast with his loving human family.
“Turkeys are feeling individuals who love their families and value their lives, and they don’t want to be carved up and stuffed any more than we do,” says PETA Senior Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA is encouraging everyone to give birds and other animals a break this Thanksgiving and beyond, and leave the Tobys, Heiheis, and Puas of the world in peace.”
In nature, turkeys spend their days caring for their young, building nests, foraging for food, taking dust baths, and roosting in trees—but tens of millions are killed each year for Thanksgiving and Christmas alone. Workers hang the young birds upside down, drag them through an electrified bath, slit their throats, and dump them into scalding-hot water in defeathering tanks—often while they’re still conscious.
PETA’s free vegan starter kit and “ThanksVegan” guide are filled with tips to help anyone looking to make the switch.
The spot will run before Moana 2, Wicked, and other movies at theaters in Evansville, Jasper, Newburgh, Henderson, Rockport, and Princeton, Indiana; Eden Prairie, Saint Paul, Mounds View, Inver Grove Heights, and Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Wichita, Kansas.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
