What PETA lacks in subtlety they make up with creative campaigns against animal cruelty. Recently, PETA had "attacked" everyone's favorite mushroom eating plumber and his use of his tanooki suit. Fans spoke out against PETA's use of the video game character and although PETA claims it was only used as a way to gain attention for a serious issue. Mario now has a few words to say to PETA.
It's not the first time that The People for the Eating of Tasty Animals Ethical Treatment of Animals have used Mario's likeness to help promote awareness towards animal cruelty. They have before used his story in an attempt to blast McDonald's, but this time they are actually picking on the Italian plumber himself and Nintendo... sort of.
The campaign that PETA has developed to increase awareness of raccoon dog abuse has come in the form of a simple spacebar-sensitive 2D side-scrolling game. As a skinned alive tanooki, you must race after Mario in a bleak Super Mario Land-like world in order to save your skin from the clutches of that dastardly plumber. Read the full description of the game below:
"When on a mission to rescue the princess, Mario has been known to use any means necessary to defeat his enemy–even wearing the skin of a raccoon dog to give him special powers.
Tanooki may be just a "suit" in Mario games, but in real life, tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur. By wearing Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it's OK to wear fur. Play Super Tanooki Skin 2D and help Tanooki reclaim his fur!"
The Mario debacle occurred days after PETA had come out and attacked Battlefield 3 for how it  "treats animals in a sadistic manner," in a mission involving a rat and a knife - There was no mention of dogs strapped with C4 in the latest Call of Duty. So, after fans spoke out against PETA's far-fetched campaign, PETA responded to Kotaku in regards to the matter at hand. Shakira Croce, PETA's media coordinator, states that they could only hope that real-life tanukis could fly and swat enemies away with their tails, but by no means did they mean to offend the video game community. They ask that Mario fans "relax" and that the game was meant to be a "tongue-in-cheek" way to promote awareness of the skinning of tanukis in a fun way.
PETA's attempt at a spoof caught the attention of Dorkly — a sister site of College Humor — who have come up with a clever rebuttal for Mario that helps speak his case against animal cruelty and the use of the tanooki suit, which in fact is made of a completely synthetic fiber gained from a magical leaf, not the beating and skinning of a defenseless raccoon dog. Check out Dorkly's video below:
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The abuse of raccoon dogs is a serious issue and we at Game ZXC hope that it comes to an end. Spokesperson from PETA, Ashley Palmer says, "No one really believes that Mario actually kills and skins a raccoon dog for his fur in Super Mario 3D Land," and that those at PETA are huge fans themselves of the games — they just wish that the game wasn't taken so literally.
Anyone who is interested in playing the PETA game, Mario Kills Tanooki, is welcome to on PETA's website where you can also find various other games like Super Tofu Boy.
Mario Kills Tanooki is a clever campaign to gain awareness of the abuse that raccoon dogs face none-the-less, but has PETA gone too far?
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