Using Sex to Sell Ethics

“As a feminist, I’m not keen on the idea of using women’s bodies to sell veganism, and I’m not into the idea of using veganism to sell women’s bodies.”
-Isa Chandra Moskowitz, founder of the vegan "Post Punk Kitchen"

March 27, 2008 —

Animal rights organizations such as PETA, along with smaller operations promoting vegan and vegetarian lifestyles have sparked the ire of the greater progressive left  with recent marketing strategies using female sexuality as a means to promote their message.

For years PETA has used naked celebrities in its advertising. Now, its youth group offshoot has teamed up with the alternative soft-core porn site, Suicide Girls, for their "Ink not Mink" campaign, featuring woman adorned only by tattoos.

Supporters argue these tactics successfully draw the consumer's attention to issues of animal cruelty. After all, sex turns heads.  But for some with a passion for both vegetarianism and feminism, the exploitation of woman's bodies to peddle products or further the animal rights agenda, is distasteful.