PETA Wages War on Pokémon for Virtual Animal Cruelty

[Claire Diviner]

http://m.cnet.com/news/peta-wages-war-on-pokemon-for-virtual-animal-cruelty/57528398

Although Pokemon and Pikachu are fictional animated species and not real creatures, the animal rights group says their struggle in Pokemon Black and White 2 condones animal abuse.


Pokemon has begun his struggle for freeman and liberation, fighting his trainers, doling out group hugs and going to protests... in PETA's alternate universe, that is.

The animal rights group has launched a campaign against Pokemon Black and White 2, saying that the game condones animal cruelty and that its creatures are treated like abused animals.

"The amount of time that Pokemon spend stuffed in pokeballs is akin to how elephants are chained up in train carts, waiting to be let out to 'perform' in circuses," PETA wrote on its Web site. "But the difference between real life and this fictional world full of organized animal fighting is that Pokémon games paint rosy pictures of things that are actually horrible."

In addition to speaking out against the game's makers, PETA has also created a spoof video game called Pokemon Black & Blue: Gotta Free 'Em All on its Web site. The premise of the game is that the characters battle their trainers in their crusade for freedom. Players are given choices about how to "use attacks to exploit a Trainer's weakness," including group hugs, protests, quick attack, and thundershock.

"If PETA existed in Unova, our motto would be: Pokemon are not ours to use or abuse," the group wrote on its Web site. "They exist for their own reasons. We believe that this is the message that should be sent to children."

Nintendo's Pokemon gaming franchise, which is geared toward children, is one of the most successful worldwide. In what started out as simple adventures with Pokemon and Pikachu has now morphed into several video games, TV shows, toys, trading cards, and books that feature more than 600 fictional species. Pokemon Black and White 2 was released in July in Japan and is slated to hit North America, Europe, and Australia this month.

PETA has a habit of taking jabs at video games. In 2010, the group went after Zynga for having animated pit bulls as attack dogs in its game Mafia Wars. That same year, in response to an Android app that lets users train dogs to fight each other, it launched an iPhone app that highlighted stories about animal cruelty. And last year, in what seems like a spoof itself -- PETA went after Nintendo's Super Mario 3D Land for dressing Mario in a fur suit.

I swear PETA has serious issues, especially when it comes to attacking and protesting things a couple of decades after they exist.

 

[Master Xanthan]

Actually Peta is in Unova, except in pokemon they go by the name Team Plasma lol. But in all seriousness, Peta is pretty ridiculous. If Peta really wants to do something about animal abuse, then they should be trying to stop stuff that goes on in the real world and not something in a video game.

 

[Holder of the Heel]

They're onto something here. I don't know anyone who plays Pokemon who doesn't train pets by fighting each other, feeding them candy, giving them steroids, and takes them out to attack and capture wild animals.

 

[CableCho57]

freaking PETA...

I never understood animal rights. I mean they are animals, they have no logic or souls

and I'm a vegetarian

 

[Frostwraith]

freaking PETA...

I never understood animal rights. I mean they are animals, they have no logic or souls

and I'm a vegetarian

while that may be a little false, we all know that all living things survive by... consuming other living things... so, what applies to the animals, also applies to the human being, because humans are animals too, we just forget about it.

Does anyone still know about the laws of nature?

these guys may defend one cause, but they aren't exactly bright... hence, fundamentalism. anyway, let the discussion move on... this is going to be pretty... and where's my popcorn anyway?

 

[Life]

100% appropriate.

 

[Luigitoilet]

it's really dumb that people are paying so much attention to this obvious and lazy publicity stunt

 

[Holder of the Heel]

To what end would PETA want such a publicity stunt if it is going to make people hate them? PETA isn't like a celebrity where it ends up as gossip that people love to hate and they get more popular, it's a campaign that is suppose to get support and love.

 

[GoldShadow]

PETA is an extremist, borderline domestic terrorist organization at worst and a useless publicity gathering machine at best.

If you don't already hate PETA (and most people don't, simply because they've never looked into the organization, and believe that it really is just a sensible organization that promotes animal welfare), I suggest you do some research on it, and I can almost guarantee you will hate it afterward. PETA is insane, and sometimes even dangerous, and I lose a lot of respect for anyone who joins and/or is affiliated with them.

Keep in mind this is the same organization that once had an ad campaign comparing the plight of chickens in slaughterhouses to the Holocaust. Because, you know, harvesting chicken meat is on the same moral plane as the genocide and torture of seven million men, women and children.

 

[Luigitoilet]

To what end would PETA want such a publicity stunt if it is going to make people hate them? PETA isn't like a celebrity where it ends up as gossip that people love to hate and they get more popular, it's a campaign that is suppose to get support and love.

Any publicity is good publicity. It's the same showboating flammatory stuff that makes Westboro Baptist Church a household name. If the media and masses didn't absolutely lose their **** every time a Phelps said something horrible and insensitive, they would rot in obscurity. PETA has practically built their entire name and image on being as hateable as possible

another example: I highly doubt the CEOs at Chik fil A are regretting the uproar over their anti homo stuff earlier this year

 

[theeboredone]

I'd disagree with "any publicity is good publicity". It took the NFL some bad publicity for them to finally cave into giving the real Refs their money. Otherwise, we might have had the replacement refs for a longer time.

Back on topic, I posted this in another thread.

I honestly was not looking to debate, I was just wondering if your justification for laughing at PETA was merited, or were you simply defending Pokemon, because it is something you grew up with and never gave it much thought outside of that.

I have played Pokemons Red through Silver along with watching the show for quite a while. So that's not much, and when I did play them, I was at a much younger age. I get the whole companionship between you and your Pokemon (though I do not remember it being emphasized all that much. I don't think story was much of a strong point in the first games). However, it's hard to sort of justify it, despite it being a cartoon/video game. At least Digimon had the premise that your digimonster helped you save the world by battling evil Digimon. Pokemon unfortunately has that setting where you not only capture and tame wild Pokemon, but then use them back to "hurt" other Pokemon.

PETA or anyone who sees Pokemon as bad are being too practical. They see Pikachu thundershock a Pidgy, or having Ash yell "Come on! Get up!" as "disrespectful" to animals. In a sense, I can kinda agree. In an ideal world, why even have Pokemon fighting each other? It's just a form of entertainment at the end of the day when you got Gyms and Coliseums filling up to see how trainers use their Pokemon in battle.

But if you're gonna be that practical, you might as well say "Hey! Stop shooting people in Call of Duty!" or "Come on! Ezio didn't HAVE TO assassinate that guy!"

 

[Chronodiver Lokii]

That wasn't publicity as much as it was horrible refs doing a horrible job
When you are paid to ref a game, you have to make good calls. Nfl had to cave because their workers werent doing the work and needed to be sent back to their own leagues.

This though....THIS is a publicity stunt. There are few things stronger than sheer hate....and PETA has garnered hate.

Just as LT said, Westboro does the same type of stuff. They KNOW they are making people hate them and are using it to 'spread the word of God as good Christians' (which in itself goes against the very foundations of Christianity....which causes more hate....oh the irony!) and just causing a ruckus

PETA is probably one of the most searched topics on the Internet
I heard more about their game than the actual b/w2 releases at school today.....and im in game design!!!!! You'd think they'd be more enthused by new pokemans!!! But nope. PETA.

(....and from a design standpoint....they really made a solid rip off. Wow.)

 

[theeboredone]

I've honestly never paid attention to PETA. Never Googled them, and when I do hear about them...it's because someone else brings them up.

 

[Holder of the Heel]

I still have to disagree, a campaign might get more attention from this, but attention for a campaign does not equal profit unless it is positive attention. The Chik Fil A thing isn't exactly the same thing because it temporarily summoned the general idiocy of the masses to give them money to defend its honor. Unless we are to assume people will rise to protect this, but all I can think of is the Mario Tanuki thing which they apologized for and acted like they were shocked about the negative reaction.

Then again, they might honestly think it is good for their campaign to do this, why the hell are they doing it again?

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

They also did something on mario, and apparently cooking mama though I never saw that one

 

[Chronodiver Lokii]

They aren't looking for profit necessarily
Once again, Westboro xD

PETA, like demon church (lol), just are looking for attention

They're like the loud, obnoxious kid in the class from middle school

 

[Vinylic.]

Except the loud obnoxious kid says illogical things that many will find stupid to even listen to.

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

Except the loud obnoxious kid says illogical things that many will find stupid to even listen to.

You mean like PETA?

 

[Holder of the Heel]

It's just hard for me to think that they'd think that way, no matter how awful and stupid they may be.

 

[GoldShadow]

I wasn't kidding when I said PETA and its member/leaders are insane. They do not behave based on logic. Look up the ridiculous brainwashing techniques they use to "train" new members.

Also keep in mind this is the organization whose vice president acknowledged taking insulin for diabetes yet was against the same animal testing which allowed that insulin to be developed in the first place.

Seriously, look up PETA's campaigns. Their aim is not to raise awareness and educate, it is to shock and appall.

 

[Teran]

Also PETA criticises animal shelters that take in abused and abadoned animals because every so often they have to euthanise.

The best part is, PETA puts a huge number of animals to death every year themselves, but of course when PETA is judge, jury, and executioner it's okay.

Also they finance people who firebomb labs that perform animal testing. Apparently it's okay to be violent sometimes when the message is so important, because humans aren't animals, and everyone in that lab, including cleaners and other laboratory workers who do other research, are all evil animal abusers and need to understand the error of their ways.

Tbh, I'd rather have fundamentalist muslims in my neighbourhood than PETA nutjobs, for one, I could have a barbecue in peace.

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

Unless it was pork

 

[Masmasher@]

they are about 15 years late

this goes up there with some of the dumbest **** ive seen

 

[UltiMario]

Well, to be honest this is dumb as **** but not everything that came out of it was bad. PETA is a slowpoke and dumb as **** but at least the fanbase handled it rather well.

[COLLAPSE="lik dis if u cry evrytime"]

[/COLLAPSE]

To be completely serious, PETA needs to stop trying to get grabs of attention and either just shut down or actually work on the whole animal rights thing.

 

[Teran]

PETA is a ****ing cult and they will never stop because there are always gullible and empty people to brainwash with their propaganda and insanity.

 

[Dre89]

PETA's claim may have had more merit if showed studies which demonstrated that kids that watch/play pokemon are more likely to practice animal cruetly or something like that.

If we should ban pokemon, then by that logic we should ban every video game that allows playable characters to be violent.

while that may be a little false, we all know that all living things survive by... consuming other living things... so, what applies to the animals, also applies to the human being, because humans are animals too, we just forget about it.

Does anyone still know about the laws of nature?

Animals also ****, exile kill/minorities, commit infanticide and practice cannibalism, so I don't think animals make the best basis for human actions.

 

[Teran]

Tbqh if you're playing Pokémon then you're probably less likely to interact with nature altogether.

Who needs to dig up worms and decapitate crickets when there are important things like training Charizard?