Alicia Silverstone Under Fire Over New PETA Campaign: 'Didn't Think the Message Through'
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WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 10: Alicia Silverstone attends the Elton John AIDS Foundation's 32nd Annual Academy Awards Viewing Party on March 10, 2024 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/WireImage)
Alicia Silverstone has come under fire for her new partnership with PETA.
The Clueless star and her son, Bear, star in the controversial animal rights organization's new campaign against school dissections, but the slogan has left much to be desired.
"Millions of animals are killed and dissected each year, but together, we can change that," the actress wrote on Instagram, suggesting "alternatives that will continue to educate without cutting into these beautiful creatures" as she shared their campaign image.
Labeled "CUT CLASS, NOT FROGS!", the new poster features the duo running out of a high school biology lab with a series of photoshopped frogs on the floor and in the air around them, but her Instagram followers say that someone "didn't think the message through."
"While I understand the message," one wrote, "I don’t agree that in a world where education is such a privilege and a necessity we shouldn’t [sic] be encouraging kids to cut class🤷🏼♀️."
"Your message resonates," another admitted, "but using 'cut class' may not convey a positive message." They suggested finding "another phrase that doesn't undermine the importance of education."
"You lost me at Peta," another wrote, likely drawing on the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' dark history of treating animals decidedly unethically and inserting themselves into situations where they don't need to be, while several others questioned how veterinary students were meant to learn how to treat animals without dissecting specimens first.
Others fully aligned with the message, though, with many recalling not only traumatic frog dissections in school, but cats, too. In this day and age, they argued, there must be alternative options.
"I don’t understand how this is still a thing when there’s the entire internet to learn how anatomy works," one said.
Students also shouldn't be punished for refusing to perform a dissection, many argued, recalling their own failing grades as a result.
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