By The peta2 exhibit is back on upper campus this week, raising eyebrows and leaving some students feeling sad.
Peta2’s visual presentation, “Glass Walls,” features a display on the treatment of animals in the U.S. farming industry. The exhibit includes a gestation crate that pigs are kept in while nursing their young and a cage filled with faux baby chickens.
Informative banners explaining how animals have the ability communicate with each other and understand their surrounding environment are posted along the walls.
The exhibit ends with a video presentation detailing the poor living conditions for farm animals. Some students said the most saddening part of the peta2 exhibit was a feature that claims to show the line of sight for a chicken in a factory farm, one that is limited by stacks of chicken-filled cages only a few feet away.
Not all students were drawn to the exhibit by word of mouth, though.
Peta2 workers holding ads that promised free gifts stood in front of the tent. And at the end of the exhibit, the same workers offered students and attendees starter kits to transition into a vegetarian and vegan lifestyle, a sample of vegan jerky and pamphlets.
The methods seem to have worked as 200 people visited the exhibit within the first two hours of the its opening.
It’s a smart marketing strategy on peta2’s part, not as a means of acquiring financial profit, but to gather a following from the Cal State Long Beach community.
Although the peta2 exhibit generated a high volume of attendees, it doesn’t mean that spreading veganism is a realistic goal.
Peta2’s attempt to sway the public towards a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle is well planned, but convincing college students to convert to vegetarianism is a bit of a stretch.
College students have busy schedules and are always on the go. Finding affordable, vegetarian menu options can be hard, especially since many college students are living on a tight budget.
While some students that attend the peta2 exhibit might consider limiting their meat consumption, the expectations for a completely vegan lifestyle are difficult to follow.
Many students left the peta2 exhibit feeling disturbed and maybe a little bit guilty, but we find it hard to believe that meat lovers are going to stop eating meat because of a 15-minute presentation.
Peta2’s advertising and extreme showcases are a successful strategy for gaining public attention, but that attention doesn’t always lead to persuasion.
Peta2’s exhibit could be persuasive for the on-the-fence omnivore, but we’re even a little doubtful of that.
Although we may not approve of the graphic nature of their messages, we do think that their campaign methods are successful in raising awareness for some.
We heard the campus buzzing about the exhibit a few hours after it opened, so that has to mean something.
Leaving students feeling guilty, though, isn’t going to stop carnivores from getting a burger at The Nugget.
