PETA Begs for Attention with Animal Crossing: New Horizons In-Game Protest

Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the recent digital site of a bizarre in-game protest against animal captivity staged by the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

On May 19th, the official PETA social media accounts posted a 30-second TikTok video showing members of the organization engaging in a protest inside Blather’s museum on the island of a player, presumably another member of PETA.

In the virtual protest, the PETA members wore custom patterned shirts bearing the four-letter acronym for their organization and ‘shouted’ “Empty the Tanks!” using the game’s chat function:

At the end of the video, PETA attempts to boost the hashtag ‘#BlathersIsOverParty’ in what can only be seen as a request to alter the game’s core mechanics by ‘freeing’ the fish on display across all players’ islands.

Like many of their public ‘protests’, PETA’s attempt to use Nintendo’s famous village building simulator as a platform for their advocacy was met with a wave of ridicule and mockery from members of the general public, with many pointing out that the organization had to contribute and support Blather’s museum in order for them to have the stage for their public display.

In the face of overwhelming criticism, the account responded to players by declaring that they were ‘raiding’ islands to free fish and attempting to direct traffic to the “Vegan’s Guide to Animal Crossing: New Horizons” hosted on their website:

What do you make of PETA’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons stunt?

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