In another disasterous marketing move, PETA further uses its non-inclusive brand strategy to alienate people who eat fish. Although those people might very well support other causes PETA fights for, they’re not welcome. You can check out this post to learn more about that issue, but today, let’s talk about PETA’s idea to rebrand fish as “sea kittens” with the hope that a cute name for a species lower on the food chain will cause fewer people to eat it.
Why not? Tuna is already known as Chicken of the Sea.
I couldn’t help but think of that line from Seinfeld when I heard about this one, “It’s gold, Jerry. Gold.”
Of course, you know I’m being sarcastic.
I do wonder though why PETA stopped with sea kittens. Why not sea gerbil for shrimp or sea bunny for lobster?
Your thoughts? Oh, and if you want to read about PETA’s reasoning and defense of its rebranding attempt, and read some really amusing comments from children and members of the fish and wildlife industry, you can follow the link to read the full article on NPR.org. It’s worth a laugh, but I don’t think it’s going to help PETA very much, and I say that as a person who doesn’t eat fish.
By the way, do you think if the bird and snake in the above pictures knew they were eating sea kittens they’d still eat those fish in their respective claws and mouth?
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc. and Founder & Editor in Chief of an award-winning blog, WomenOnBusiness.com. She is a 25-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored 10 books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing.
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I about spit out my coffee when I read this and the original NPR article. Are they insane?!? Good one on the sea gerbils and sea bunnies…
I’m reminded of a scene in the movie “Notting Hill” where Hugh Grant is hving dinner with different women to meet someone suitable. One of them proclaims to be a “fruitarian”; she only eats fruits & vegetables that have fallen to the ground and are considered “dead”. Hugh Grant points to the boiled carrots at the dinner table and says “So these carrots…?”, “Murdered” she says, “How ghastly” he comments.
I think PeTA should branch out to other living things.