PETA Global 2017 Issue 1

Why Your Smart Phone Is the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Animals

5 million "likes"

14 million views

B ack in 2008, a Gallup poll found that 25 percent of Americans believed that animals should have the same rights as humans. By 2015, the number had jumped to nearly one-third. What prompted so many more people to embrace animal rights? The change in attitude largely comes down to innovative social media marketing strategies, which enable a message to “go viral” and reach millions in a matter of hours. For instance, Gallup noted that even though PETA’s racy Super Bowl ads were rejected by the major networks, they’ve been viewed millions of times online. Social media has taken over, and no organization has embraced that trend with more enthusiasm than PETA. With over 5 million “likes” on Facebook and more than 875,000 followers on Twitter, PETA is recognized by the public relations industry publication PR News Pro as a “perennial social media leader” and “the most engaged nonprofit” organization – among all nonprofits, not just those that advocate for animals.

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PETA’s online videos – from the popular “Chicken in Reverse,” which shows the gruesome “backstory” of supermarket meat packages, to behind-the-scenes looks at celebrity campaigns such as Krysten Ritter’s underwater anti-SeaWorld ad – were watched more than 1.3 billion times in 2016. These videos are powerful. For example, just one day after eyewitness video footage of a terrified dog being forced into rough water on the set of A Dog’s Purpose was released, a PETA team created a side-by-side video showing the contrast between what people see on screen and the abuse that takes place behind the scenes.

3.1 million active subscribers

875,508 followers

BE THE CHANGE! “PETA’s marketing savvy is helping to ensure that animal rights is always front and center in the conversation,” says PETA’s vice president of marketing, Joel Bartlett. “Tangible changes occur through online activism, from persuading someone to go vegan to convincing companies that they should stop selling fur – and much more.” F I N D O U T W H A Y B A C K P G E • B E T H E C H A N G E ! • In less than 48 hours, PETA’s video had been viewed more than 6.5 million times and shared thousands of times via Facebook and Twitter. And abusers should fear PETA’s mobile advocacy program, which has more than 113,000 subscribers and has earned prestigious honors – including a Mobile Marketing Association Smarties Award, sometimes called the “Oscar of mobile marketing.” PETA mobile alerts touch on all topics, from asking a company such as AAA to end its partnership with SeaWorld to encouraging members of Congress to support legislation such as the Battlefield Excellence through Superior Training (BEST) Practices Act, a bill that would end cruel military trauma-training exercises on live animals and replace them with high-tech human simulators. People can easily take action, just by typing “Y” to send an e-mail to the target. Thanks to PETA’s website, e-mail alerts, social media, and mobile program, the number of actions taken online has grown in five years from a monthly average of about 200,000 to more than 1 million. Last year, 56 victories for animals – more than one per week – were a direct result of PETA’s action and e-mail alerts.

“When you’ve got it, you’ve got it. That’s the case with PETA’s prowess on social media.” – PR News Pro

And PETA works fast! A single tweet was able to redirect the conversation when Harambe, a gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo, was shot and killed after a toddler fell into his enclosure. Almost instantly, commenters followed PETA’s lead: They stopped asking whether the actions of the zoo or the child’s mother were to blame and started questioning why Harambe was behind bars in the first place.

C N D O - T U R

T H E F U R O A N I M L S D E P     O N W H A T E D • B E T H E C H A N G E ! •

T H E F U R O A N I M L S D E P     O N W H A T E D • B E T H E C H A N G E ! •

T H E F U R O A N I M L S D E P     O N W H A T E D • B E T H E C H A N G E ! •

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