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Now PETA is mocked over latest campaign to say 'nutritional yeast' or 'bees' when posing for a photo instead of cheese because it's 'not animal friendly'
Animal rights group PETA have called on people to recognize what saying 'cheese' before a photo 'really means' and use new terms that 'reflect our shifting values' as younger people opt for dairy-free lifestyles.
A new promotional video shared on X, formerly Twitter, starts with scenes designed to shock - families posing with their children for photos while the photographer says 'Say, "Babies slaughtered for veal."' or 'Say, "Calf-cow separation.'"
Another shows two young women taking a selfie as they say, 'Repeated and forced impregnation!' and a man cheers as he poses and says 'Dehorning and tail-docking! Woo!'
The campaign, which goes on to encourage watchers to say 'peas' or 'bees' or 'nutritional yeast' instead of cheese, urges that 'tired outdated phrases' should be replaced by more 'animal-friendly phrases'.
But the post has received backlash from onlookers, many of whom have taken to social media to mock the campaign for its insistence on new pro-vegan terminology.
The video shared on X features families with children posing and referencing the grim realities of the meat industry, including (here) the slaughter of calves for veal meat
In another clip, two young women pose for a selfie while saying 'Repeated and forced impregnation' - again reference to how dairy cows are impregnated to produce milk
Others looked to show how silly it would be to reference other processes involving the meat and dairy industries
Finally, a young woman is asked to 'say "Cheese"' before pausing, shaking her head and walking out. 'No,' she says
According to PETA, the campaign is aimed at 'reminding everyone what "Say 'cheese'" means for cows who suffer and die in the abusive dairy industry.
They note: '"Calf-cow separation" and "repeated forced impregnation" are nothing to smile about—so why do we keep saying "cheese"?'
'Mother cows are fiercely protective of their precious babies, but the dairy industry denies them this important bond, stealing their calves from them shortly after birth.
'Dairy farms repeatedly impregnate female cows in order to exploit them like milking machines until they’re no longer able to produce milk.
'Then, these sensitive, gentle mothers are sent to slaughter so that humans can eat their flesh.'
The 'public service announcement', codirected by Christian Carl and Jon Walley with Philadelphia-based production company Format, was launched on March 4 and has amassed 22,000 views on YouTube, as well as being shared across the group's social media platforms.
Controversially, they also ask viewers to think about their language choices, suggesting that 'today’s young people understand that the language we use should reflect our shifting values'.
'Replacing tired, outdated phrases with more conscientious ones is a piece of vegan cake,' PETA staff said in a statement.
'Instead of saying "cheese," opt for an animal-friendly phrase with that long "e" sound that helps you smile, like "trees," "bees," or "nutritional yeast."
'There are endless ways to get creative while being kind to our fellow animals.'
But the message received a mixed response online, with flummoxed viewers taking to social media to share their reactions.
User Fennecrocks wrote: 'Do they get angry when people say "bring home the bacon?"'
Poppa_Digit said: 'I'm having extra mozzarella on my pizza tonight to purge my soul of this epic bulls***.
User keithwithhat added: 'How in gods [sic] green earth is peta [sic] still a thing?'
Eclipseragdoll wrote: 'Oh wow even saying "cheese" is now bad, you should be ashamed of yourself, peta [sic]'
User Doug Judy wrote: 'This is so stupid'.
On YouTube, the organization received a more varied response, with some thanking PETA for raising awareness and urging watchers to 'go vegan for the animals and justice'.
Another reflected: 'If you think about it, it's such a strange thing to say in a photo.
'People say it all the time around me.'
One user wrote: 'I don't know how long ago in history it was, but people used to say: Grapes'.
It has been reported that before 'cheese' became the go-to term to make people look happy before a photo, photographers in Britain used to tell subjects to say 'prunes' which would lead to a tightening of the lips.
It was not until Kodak started making affordable cameras and marketing them with people smiling that it became normal to grin for a photograph.
PETA claims that by going vegan, one person can spare nearly 200 animals' lives a year, reduce their environmental footprint and improve their health.
that by going vegan, one person can spare nearly 200 animals' lives a year, reduce their environmental footprint and improve their health.
Users took to X, formerly Twitter, to poke at the campaign video shared online
Some vehemently disagreed with PETA and dismissed the campaign
Another user took aim at the organization itself after publishing the video
Others took pause for thought and questioned why we say cheese in the first place
Another interjected that we used to use different terms before adopting 'cheese'
And some supported what PETA were trying to achieve with the video campaign
It was reported only yesterday that PETA had written to First Lady Jill Biden asking her to replace the traditional Easter egg roll with a potato roll that 'wouldn’t exploit any sentient beings'.
The annual event runs from 7am until 7pm on Easter Monday, on April 1, with an estimated 30,000 people arriving at the White House to roll dyed, hard-boiled eggs across the grass and see whose will go the furthest before cracking.
PETA president Ingrid Newkirk urged Dr Biden to use potatoes instead of the traditional painted chicken eggs.
She said: 'Easter is not a time of renewal or joy for chickens on egg factory farms. It can take up to 36 hours in typically hellish conditions for a hen... to produce just one of the thousands of eggs slated to be used at the White House Easter Egg Roll.
'Instead of promoting the deleterious factory farming and slaughter industries, will you please initiate the annual White House Potato Roll?'
Critics also took aim at PETA for urging a stop to children's merry-go-rounds, arguing that using animal themes 'unintentionally celebrates the exploitation' of animals.
The animal rights organization released an open letter to Chance Rides on February 6, asking them to stop making the attractions and suggesting they could replace animal figures with 'figures of bulldozers, cars and spaceships, engaging the imagination of youngsters through "human talent"' instead.