Video: PETA Christmas Ad Featuring Jane Horrocks Calls For Turkeys to Be Left off the Table
Video: PETA Christmas Ad Featuring Jane Horrocks Calls For Turkeys to Be Left off the Table
London – PETA’s entry to the Christmas advert season features Absolutely Fabulous and Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget star Jane Horrocks as the voice of Tessa, a jolly young turkey, who sings and marvels at many of today’s Christmas customs, like The Elf on the Shelf. But the spot takes a dark turn when Tessa finds herself seized and sent to an abattoir – the fate that awaits most turkeys in real life – where she questions how killing sensitive animals for the Christmas table can have a place in today’s world. The spot ends with a simple appeal: let’s kill the tradition, not the turkey, and a call for viewers to try a vegan meal instead.
The ad, created in collaboration with House 337, is being lined up to play lined up to play in cinemas nationwide throughout December.
“I’m proud to be giving a voice to Tessa, a curious little turkey who questions why millions of birds are killed for the Christmas table each year when so many other options exist,” says Horrocks. “I hope the spot encourages kind souls everywhere to explore vegan dishes that offer some peace on Earth to animals this festive season.”
“Turkeys are smart, social individuals who don’t want or deserve to be dinner, and there is a wealth of kind and tasty animal-friendly options available to choose from,” says PETA Vice President Elisa Allen. “Tradition doesn’t excuse cruelty, and PETA stands ready to spread Christmas cheer by providing everyone with great recipes and shopping tips for preparing and enjoying a vegan feast.”
Misguided holiday customs spell torment and a horrific death for many animals. Approximately 9 million turkeys are killed for Christmas dinner each year in the UK alone. In nature, turkeys are protective parents and spirited explorers who can live up to 10 years, but those killed for their flesh are crammed into filthy sheds – which are breeding grounds for diseases such as the ongoing bird flu epidemic – before being slaughtered at just 12 to 26 weeks of age. The young birds are often hung from metal shackles by their feet and dragged through an electrified bath that can cause full-body tremors. Some are still conscious when their throats are slit or as they’re placed into scalding hot water to remove their feathers.
PETA offers a guide to meatless Christmas roasts and a free vegan starter kit.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, or Instagram.
Contact:
Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]
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