PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - Essay Example

PETA tries to influence public policy in many ways. For example, in a recent ad campaign, Indian cricketer Murali Kartik is pictured as being confined to a small cube with a caption ‘cramped, scared, and abused’ (Press Trust of India, 2012). This advertisement aims to influence public policy by creating public awareness about animal abuse. Another example can be seen in China which is working towards approving non-animal tested cosmetics in the country following an initiative led by PETA (Gallon, 2012).

In order to influence policy and public agenda, PETA conducts activities like holding campaigns and working towards changing the law concerning ‘required’ animal testing. It is also involved in creating public awareness about animal abuse in the entertainment, research, fashion, and food industries. Several celebrities like Paul McCartney and Russell Simmons support PETA and this is a major strength as common people look up to them as idols. Their strengths include being creative and highly visible.

Their major weakness is their crude and uncaring manner of communicating their purpose. For example, PETA came up with a billboard before Easter 2004 that pictures a pig with the caption ‘He died for your sins – go vegetarian’ (Strom, 2004). This brought about a huge uproar from the Christian community.