Happy Thanksgiving from PETA

This comedic but disturbing attempt to convince the general public to not eat turkey this thanksgiving is PETA’s most recent attempt to promote their cause. With the fall holiday causing an increased focus on the consumption of mass produced and processed turkeys PETA ramps up their anti-meat efforts in response. In different cities, including Baltimore and Philadelphia, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have been setting up dinner tables with a baby (doll) as the center dish instead of the classic turkey. This outraged many of the turkey lovers across America, but what influence does this lobby group have over our legislators and what influence do they have over the average voter? There other big ad campaigns for thanksgiving have been aimed at influencing children by comparing eating a turkey to eating your lovable house dog, or by emphasizing the less than glamorous processing techniques of large production turkey. Though the FCC banning one of their ads might be the only truly political part of this article, it reminds me of Olson’s take on lobby groups. If the most successful groups are the ones who have political power as a byproduct of another common cause, PETA is doing incredibly well with these ads if they are one of the most well known lobbying group with 2 million members.