People have been no stranger to odd occurrences in 2020, as they seem to be around every corner. That trend continues, as PETA is now staging a protest within Animal Crossing: New Horizons. For those wondering what it is they are protesting, it is Blathers' inhumane treatment of museum specimens.
For those that haven't engaged with Animal Crossing: New Horizons yet, the player can donate fossils, bugs, fish, and art to a museum run by the owl named Blathers, where he proudly displays them for all visitors to see. It seems that PETA has taken issue with this, however.
The protests showed up on PETA's Twitter account yesterday morning in the form of a video with the caption "A cultural reset." This video shows numerous Animal Crossing avatars wearing PETA swag actively protesting Blathers and his museum. This comes shortly after PETA released a Vegan guide to Animal Crossing.
Reaction to the Tweet has been mostly negative, as a lot of viewers seem to find the exercise to be pointless. PETA has been active in responding to tweets, however, and has defended its position with both vigor and humor, often using memes to dismiss overly critical comments from followers. In response to these criticisms, PETA claims that it believes that, even though video games aren't real, they can act as a model for how people should treat the world around them. As such, the removal of fish from their natural habitats and display in a museum goes against the company's beliefs.
PETA obviously doesn't expect Blathers to make any changes to the museum, as he is simply a video game character. The video was more likely than not actually directed at both players and developers of the incredibly popular Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Curiously PETA didn't seem to take issue with the donation of bugs, as only fish were mentioned. PETA has in the past crusaded for insect rights in a similar manner to their animal rights protests, so many were somewhat surprised to see the insects excluded from this protest.
Regardless of one's stance on PETA and the protest itself, the video is actually rather funny. Blathers looks utterly terrified at what is happening, and the players involved are all wearing custom made PETA clothing, using signs, and doing whatever they can to invoke the image of a protest. This isn't the first instance of Animal Crossing: New Horizons being used as a platform for protests, as others in Hong Kong have done the same.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now exclusively for Nintendo Switch.
