PETA vs. Mario

[Bacon Boy]

PETA is not comprised of the brightest bunch of activists. They might do good work here and there (I think), but they’re also real life trolls who do stunts that make it impossible to take them seriously and thereby hurts their cause overall. In their latest campaign, they’re taking on Mario. Why? Because of the Tanooki suit in Super Mario 3D Land. Here’s what they’re saying:

When on a mission to rescue the princess, Mario has been known to use any means necessary to defeat his enemy — even wearing the skin of a raccoon dog to give him special powers. Tanooki may be just a “suit” in Mario games, but in real life, tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur. By wearing Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it’s OK to wear fur.

I can see the connection. But the connection is oblivious to context. Mario is a cartoonish video game character, the game itself is not violent in any way (you don’t see Mario skinning alive racoon dogs), and the suit itself gives Mario special abilities, making it far removed from even the idea of real fur.
All in all, PETA is silly and needs to learn how to pick their battles.
Update: They’ve also launched a website with a Flash game parodying Mario, but with a bloodier theme. You can click here to play the game, or check after the break for a video of it in action.

Mario often takes the appearance of certain animals and objects in his games. These have included a frog, a penguin, a balloon and even a metallic version of himself. These lighthearted and whimsical transformations give Mario different abilities and make his games fun to play. The different forms that Mario takes make no statement beyond the games themselves.

Brentalfloss's take on the subject (warning: language).

Opinions?
I think, while PETA's cause is noble, they've always just been a group of attention whores. They always try to stir up controversy and it never gets them anything aside from a bad reputation.​

UPDATE:

The crazy folk in charge of PETA have made a final statement in regards to their campaign against Mario and Super Mario 3D Land. It was a joke! Or at least that’s their story now. Here’s what they’ve said:

Mario fans: Relax! PETA’s game was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, a fun way to call attention to a serious issue, that raccoon dogs are skinned alive for their fur. We wish real-life tanukis could fly or swat enemies away with their tails and escape from those who profit from their skins. You can help them by never buying real fur.

This is obviously a continuing publicity stunt and I’m probably falling into their trap by writing about this, but at the same time it’s proof to never trust PETA and to never support PETA. They’re either incompetent morons making a “joke” that aims to harm the reputation of a company, or they’re incompetent morons who make a bold statement but back down and change their story as soon as it receives a negative response.

It goes beyond mere idiocy though. You may want to visit PETA Kills Animals to see their ineffectiveness in saving the lives of animals.

 

[Kaiaa]

I actually revived an e-mail about this and played the Mario Kills Tanooki game enclosed. The game PETA made is soooo disturbing. It's not like Mario went around skinning Tanooki alive, he gets the suit from a Leaf. I agree that PETAs intentions are good but the way they go about things.....is WRONG. It's a video game. Never once did I think "Oh I want to wear fur now!" and I've been playing Mario games that include tanooki since the day I was born! I'm for animal rights but give me a break PETA.

 

[Yokie]

God damn hippies I swear...

 

[bloop2424]

Their point of view is not even worthy of a response...

 

[.IE.]

Wow, what a coincidence, I just viewed something about this yesterday...

Anyways, yeah. I think this is totally disgusting. Bashing on an innocent game series like Mario is totally wrong.