Things are bigger down in Texas. Especially controversies that blend beef with cheesecake.Thirty-year-old B-list actress Alicia Silverstone (of Clueless fame) did a commercial for controversial animal rights group PETA recently. In it, the actress, an animal rights activist and recent convert to vegetarianism, climbs out of a pool to seductive music. She offers the camera various come hither-looks as she drips dry, and in an inane voiceover, tells the camera about how her life has changed since she's become a vegetarian.
I suppose the idea is to show us how good she looks, now that she's no longer eating meat. Too bad being a vegetarian hasn't boosted her vocabulary. "It's so amazing!" Is it now? I'm so convinced.
Oh, and did I mention she's nude? Because vegetarians love to go skinny dipping. Creative camera work and strategically-placed limbs conceal all the pertinent parts, but in any case, it's nothing you couldn't see on any cable show these days.
Except you won't be seeing this one on cable anytime soon.
Apparently this 30-second spot is creating quite the ruckus in Texas, where the Good Ol' Boys love their beef and the women who love them don't take kindly to skinny vegetarian girls with flat hair.
The commercial was to air in Houston, a spot chosen by PETA because of its alleged reputation for unhealthy eating, according to news reports. Unfortunately for the group, Comcast Cable, a division of Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is refusing to air the spot.
No word yet on why not. But Comcast owns the cable market in Houston, so this will be a small (yet expensive) problem for PETA in trying to get its message across. Maybe cheesecake in the land of the beef barons doesn't go down well. I'd like to give them credit for simply rejecting a stupid commercial.
Watch it here and decide for yourself. Is this the kind of ad that would make you swear off the flesh of your animal brothers?
Alicia Silverstone's Sexy Veggie PSA
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
9-21-2007 @ 8:14PM
elsie said...
- - no she's to psycho to sell beef . . . *-")
9-21-2007 @ 10:34PM
Ray said...
She's still "clueless"
9-21-2007 @ 11:38PM
Missy said...
It is hypocrisy to the 9th degree to insist that a semi-nude person is not to be allowed on TV (or cable) but flat out wild violence is just fine. That is what is "clueless" and stupid.
9-22-2007 @ 8:37AM
horsecreekiceman said...
if I had someone who looked as good as she I would give up the beef for her
9-22-2007 @ 10:48AM
Samantha said...
Well, sadly you do have some of your facts wrong in this article. For one, Alicia Silverstone is known to be a vegetarian for YEARS! I also think that B-list is a bit harsh. She has acted in huge movies and had her own short lived TV show. I would hardly call that B list. This article is obviously bias.
I do not think the video is that controversial. I think that this is more of a reflection of the fact that the beef industry is running scared. Sales are down and people are starting to see vegetarianism as a way to help the environment. People are also getting more educated on how the meat industry treats their animals and we do not like it.
9-23-2007 @ 5:08AM
southerngal said...
I eat meat every day, stay real close to 110 lbs, and look just as good as her..
(sorry, horsecreekiceman, I'm already taken:) but I also know alot of other women who eat meat, and look just as good....As a matter of fact, I get rather sickly when I don't eat meat every day...
The main objective here, tho, is that Texas is going to be one of the last ones to buckle under pressure, if they ever buckle at all...especially when a very large percentage of Texans earn their living from cattle ranches, dairies, chicken farms, etc.
And, yep, us Texans have been seeing the Animal Rights Activist's (Radical's) true colors, how they are terrorizing innocent people, like they did in Austin about a month ago when they vandalized 7 restaraunt owner's businesses & threatened one of the owner's family's life, just for one example, (& I'm not even going to try to post here about the thousands of other terrorizing incidents they've committed in Texas & other states..but for those interested, you can go here ; http://directaction.info/news.htm )
and we do not like it....
Bottom line is that Animal Rights Activists start out 'suggesting ' that we stop eating meat, but what the AR Movement really want to do is take away our rights to eat meat, fish, hunt, own any kind of animal, wear any type of animal-derived clothing, have rodeos, circuses, zoos, etc....and when someone doesn't bow down to Animal Rights Activists, then Animal Rights Activists Radicals think that they have the right to terrorize them into doing what they want...
and we certainly do not like that.....
neither does our government, that's why Animal Rights Activists Radicals are being labeled terrorists, and Animal Rights Activists have got their selves real close to being labeled the same, which I can see why, as alot of Animal Rights Activists work together with the Animal Rights Activists Radicals.
But if Animal Rights Activists (Radical's) want to keep filtering in to Texas, they may find they would have been better off to leave Texas alone, cause Texans may eat beef, but they sure don't put up with no bull. :)
9-28-2007 @ 4:33PM
3rd year vegan said...
This ad is great! Alicia is beautiful and the ad can't possibly be offensive to anyone who watches cable tv. I am surprised by the vitriol being heaped on Alicia and the ad in general. In the ad, Alicia says nothing cruel, nothing offensive, and speaks positively about a choice that she has made and invites others to learn more and even to make the same choice. If it didn't work for you, so what? Do you need to hate vegetarians in order to properly enjoy your steak? Geez.
9-27-2007 @ 4:33PM
JOHN C GILBERT said...
southerngal , and 3rd year vegan ----- I really appreciated what ya'll both had to say, and I do hereby declare that I agree with what each of you said, especially about the non-vulgar contents of the ad !! There are enough cases of either downright vulgar ads, or implied vulgarity ads on TV , the sides of buses, the various subway cars some use daily !! We have no problem with partial nudity, as was in this ad, but we strongly object to these " ANIMAL_RIGHTS " people trying to force on us just exactly what THEIR own opinions are !! I am a total veggitarian , for medical reasons !! So I don't eat meat, at least not when my wife is watching !! The " PETA " folks should, in my own opinion be sent packing, along with the GREEN PEACE radicals !! Oh , I truly am an ordained, evangelical, non-denominational, Christian pastor !!
9-24-2007 @ 5:26PM
Bart said...
P eople
E ating
T asty
A nimals
9-24-2007 @ 6:14PM
Robert Riess said...
Example...Nude Pic of a woman with a gun
American response: oh my God she has no clothes on
European response: Oh my God she has a gun!
Which one do you think is right??
9-24-2007 @ 6:15PM
Robert Riess said...
This is art....not nudity
Maybe you would be happier if if she was shooting some beef eater
9-24-2007 @ 8:08PM
Magicpants said...
After watching this, I went and had a cheeseburger. Yum.
9-24-2007 @ 11:47PM
Bobby G said...
Considering how much attention it has drawn this has to be one of the most successful ads in ages. Absolute fool proof strategy. Same old story about negative publicity increasing the audience. Silverstone's price will probably go up too.
9-25-2007 @ 11:05AM
Pat said...
I don't know what she's selling but, send me a bunch.
9-25-2007 @ 4:14PM
bitoje said...
It would have been more effective to show her eating a meatless main dish that actually looks appetizing. But that's not possible, since there hasn't been one invented. :)
9-25-2007 @ 6:53PM
Kylie said...
Ok, well, as a vegetarian, and animal rights activist myself, it doesn't bother me when people eat meat. It's just funny that meat eaters will say really dumb things about vegetarians and don't realize that they will drop like flies after 40 and beyond because their arteries are so clogged with cholesterol.
If you eat meat, it's your choice. Same for us who don't. But understand that when you make ridiculous comments, we may have the last laugh.
9-25-2007 @ 7:26PM
Kylie said...
Hmmm, sorry Chaz. Most vegans wouldn't dare "eat you" because the protein ingested from you would make us vomit. Though, healthy protein isn't a problem.
9-25-2007 @ 7:27PM
Kylie said...
Yeah, bitoje, the main dishes that include meat look sooo yummy. Muscle, fat and veins from a fellow mammal look extremely tasty.
9-25-2007 @ 8:15PM
carver4 said...
I think it's a perfectly classy, beautiful ad that is simply trying to educate people about the option of being a vegetarian. What the hell is wrong with that? And how ignorant is it to lump animal rights activisits into one category, southerngal? I am an animal rights activist and I do not have any intention of taking anyone's rights away. I have a meat-eating boyfriend, and I don't shove my beliefs down his throat. You are generalizing ALL AR activists. You obviously don't personally know any. I don't understand why people are so scared of something that's foreign to them. Do you hear vegetarians roaring about those lame beef commercials? No. We're not going around whining that you're trying to take our rights away.
I hate close-minded ignorance. Ugh.
9-25-2007 @ 10:28PM
wop1990 said...
vegetarian; old school slang for, village idiot who can't hunt, trap, or fish!! oh, that would be you samantha!!