Can a nude Alicia Silverstone persuade you to give up meat?

PETA certainly hope so. Today Chris Ayres writes about this guilt-inducing ad and the carnivorous response. Check out both videos below.

An overweight security guard or Alicia Silverstone?  Round one just may go to the vegetarians.

Alice Fishburn

Comments

[Simon]

I don't eat meat anyway, but a nude Alicia Silverstone could persuade me to do almost anything.

[Ian Burgess]

Err how about all the sexy women who do eat meat? And how about the all those fat vegetarians (nuts are fatty)? Frankly, I've no idea who Alicia Silverstone is - some empty headed celeb I suspect. The shape of her body is due to genetics and I'll bet lots of working out as well as her diet. Vegetarians always expect meat eaters to be tolerant of them but it doesn't work the other way round.

[Mike]

Never! Her and her anti pet CULT at PeTA only convince me that they are dangerous people that take the rights away from people. She forgot to mention in her commercial that PeTA has killed thousands of animals!

I am going to go eat some KFC. Thanks Alicia for the reminder to eat more meat.

[Ted Nugent]

I've got some news for Alicia. Honey...your not that hot. You might get skinny, punk liberals to shake in their booties but you are not enough for real men to change their eating habits.....so you and the rest of you skinny, unhealthy twerps eat what you want and let the rest of us eat what we want! That's pretty easy to understand right and even an airhead liberal like Alicia should be able to understand it!

[steve moxon]

Being male, I certainly DO want Alicia's body: hers for sex, that is. As regards my own body, I would most certainly NOT want a body like Alicia's!
I will keep eating meat.

[Richard]

Give me Alicia any day. Yum! Yum! But not her diet!

[James]

these previous responses sound ignorant and angry. Animal rights activists are not interested in changing your diet, they want you to care more. Be considerate of the way you treat the planet and the things that live on it. If caring means you should stop killing things, then please dont defend your current habits just because they are your current habits. And to call someone unhealthy because they dont look like what your mother told you a healthy person should look like... well perhaps you need to get an education. Vegetarians live longer, smell better, and are less of a strain on the environment. I hope any person reading this realises that what you eat is not just up to you, it has consequences, for your health, for the planet, and for the lives and families of what you eat

[Tatiana]

So instead of consuming meat of the animal type, we are expected to consume images of human flesh... Give me a nice lamb steak any day!

I was vegetarian for the most part of ten years, before I started eating meat again 3 years ago. My skin has improved, I've lost weight, and I'm MORE energetic than I used to be. Bring in the steaks!

[Frank Upton]

Pol Pot was a vegan. Hitler was a sort of lapsed vegetarian who approved of vegetarianism in principle, though didn't always practice it. Now those were people who really CARED - rather too much. Oh, and Charles Manson. Veggies always claim these facts are 'irrelevant', but if the argument is that Vegetarians Are Nice People (like Alicia Silverstone?) plainly it isn't true.

And vegetarians smell better? From the top end maybe!

[money mike]

If we're not supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat?

[Helen]

I am vegetarian almost vegan but I really don't agree with the way PETA deals with things. Their campaigns go along with all the other sleezy ads of society: sex sells...unfortunately. Of course some of their campaigns deal with the serious issues in a respectable manner, but their lame and desperate attempt to 'convert' everyone is really insulting.

Visit VIVA! instead! It makes you feel a lot smarter.

[Huss]

Veggies fart more, so how can you say you smell better

[Leighton]

Be an unhealthily skinny bad actress that eats a stick of celery once a day
or
be an unheathily fat security guard who eats too much beef.

How about an average person that eats vegetables AND meat? That's turned out alright for me!

[Jim Hill]

Alicia looks great! I am also a PETA member People Eating Tasty Animals that is. There was a billboard in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan that read "There is a place for all God's creatures; right next to the mashed potatoes"

[Jean Bennington]

Let meat eaters eat their fill and populate the NHS hospitals to overflowing , iv'e never seen such obese people in my life before and i am a healthy 70 year old vegetarian pensioner . Why is it that the government gives a weekly news report on the state of the populations health and weight problems , the diseases exacerbated by eating meat are too numerous to mention here but the suffering of animals is not . To be a vegetarian can be sumed up as healthier and morally superior .

[Priscilla]

Making a sex object out of a
conscientious vegan doesn't
advance a social justice movement
nor does it teach respect for
nonhuman animals. One reactionary,
publicity-seeking group that can't think beyond their own sexist antics should be heard from less
so that serious-minded people can
consider the healthful, ecological and ethical benefits of a plant-based diet.

[Greg]

I like the guy. Fat - and friendly I bet. The kindest people I know are farming and hunting folk who live strong committed lives, eat heartily and don't force their views on others.

Those who equate eating meat with cruelty may well be naive enough to think that all vegetarians are thin and beautiful. I'm not.

[D Cage]

Probably the best case against a vegetarian diet is that a healthy one is extremely expensive. If more took it up it would become even more so and we would have to increase the area under poly tunnels to cope.
A balanced diet with a limited amount of meat is the most practical path.

A large amount of the meat used in the developed world is actually used for pet foood so even if all people gave it up it would not change that much.

[Stephan]

OMG...well...ermmm...id better go n eat some chicken wings <3

[Adam]

Most vegetarians do not try to convert others, but I have yet to meet a non vegetarian who doesn't think it's funny to relentlessly make meat jokes, which is far more intolerant than PETA using advertising to get their message across. A vegetarian diet is not any more expensive, and if you need to eat meat to improve your skin, you obviously have no idea about nutrition or a balanced diet! People who don't eat a balanced diet are all unhealthy, whether you eat meat or not. Oh, and the Hitler and Pol Pot facts- well guess what? Stalin, Idi Amin, Mugabe, etc etc- these people are/were not vegetarians, so what have we learnt here? All people are different, what a shocker!

[Albert]

"To be a vegetarian can be sumed up as healthier and morally superior." Who are you kidding? Diet does not make someone morally superior, nor does a set of contested ideals...and btw neither does age. So please get off your high horse and accept other's choices as they do yours.

[Dectora]

Richard : vegetarians don't live longer than those who combine large amounts of vegetables with a fish and meat diet. Your choking display of superiority does your case no good. Vegetarians smell better indeed! The bad news is that women who have little meat in their diet can suffer from an unpleasant vaginal odour, as a friend of mine discovered to her horror. (B12 deficiency, I presume.)
The only time I hesitated vis a vis meat was after reading Michel Faber's 'Under the Skin' a great novel.

[Beefeater]

"Let meat eaters eat their fill and populate the NHS hospitals to overflowing". What nonsense - I've eaten meat for 52 years, and only had a total of 10 - 15 days off work through illness in the whole of my working life, since I was 18. On the other hand, I see vegetarian colleagues who seem to catch everything that's going!

"To be a vegetarian can be sumed up as healthier and morally superior." Er, no - I have it on the highest possible authority that eating meat is morally fine: Genesis 9:3!

[emma]

As a vegetarian, PETA always make me want to reach for the nearest bacon buttie. What have nude women got to do with animal rights? PETA's advertising is misogynist which is why I personally don't support them. In fact I may have to take up meat eating until they stop producing such sexist drivel.

[IM]

All Vegetarians are beautiful, very young and slim? And kinder people and better for the planet? Uuhuh. I never knew that and that is probably the reason why I am middle-aged, slightly round in places. The superiority on dislay does not seem kind to me. First it was smoker-bashing-time, now it's meateater-bashing time. Seems just another windy little trend to me. Health benefits of eating lean meat and fish are proven and are not going to be changed by a neat pair of thingies or a nice bum on display. People in the UK seem to be less and less tolerant of others and their preferences. Now THAT IS a trend which got worse over the last 11 years and which I had the priviledge of witnessing.

[john arcassle]

i was under the impression that there was no carbs in almost any vegtable so how can you have so much energy eating rabbit food.

[KathyF]

It does seem to be true that meat eaters suffer from an appalling sense of humor, if my experience and this comment thread is any guide.

[Scott]

If meat eating was rally that bad, the government would have made some ways into advertising the fact. Take, for example; smoking, speeding, drink alcohol to excess, obesity, etc.

[Blatsby]

Are vegetarians not just unaccepting of the cycle that is life?

Or are meat eaters ignorant fools that kill beautiful creatures?

From the basis of the above both parties seem to be harbouring a deep seated anger.

I do not need to label myself a vegatarian or meat eater to make myself feel better.

Both sides of the coin are understandable and easy to tolerate in my opinion. People do not share the same opinions and do not have to agree, most importantly they do not need to act in an aggressive manner if we have differing view points.

[Fay]

When I married a meat-eater my family was betting I would convert him..he converted me.. my GP says if I had stayed veggie I probably wouldn't have diabetes now :(

[steve]

Human beings are creatures who eat what is available to them; they are not omnivorous by nature. A human can survive without meat; they can not survive without vegetables, because of the wide range of nutrients.

Vegetarians who eat a low-fat vegetarian diet DO live longer than people who eat a low-fat diet that incorporates meat and fish. FACT.

Studies have shown vegetarians have a higher IQ than meat-eating equivalents. FACT.

A Vegetarian diet gives you a smaller carbon footprint. FACT.

The cruel and inhumane murderous meat industry is supported by meat eaters, in a supply and demand situation. FACT.

Murder is bad; we know animals have intricate nervous systems, feel pain and respond to human and other animal interaction. To endorse their murder, for your own selfish desire, does make me, as a vegetarian, feel morally superior, but, even as a somewhat militant believer that we should do our bit to be compassionate to others, it's rarely me who brings up me being vegetarian - it's my meat-eating colleagues who make the usual ridiculous jokes, or continually cite 'The Royale Family' ('can you have a slice of wafer-thin ham, Barbra?').

[Dave]

What about the extra hydrocarbons the farmer must expend in her machinery to cultivate the vegans' food? If we all go vegan there will be more demand for farming, thus a loss of natural habitat and an increased use of fossil fuels by farmers... PETA folk are the same ones who sign up for "save the earth" causes. They complain about the usage of fossil fuels.

Oh and by the way, a healthy diet of lean animal protein AND fruits/veggies is the way to go. Excess carbs/processed junk food is the culprit for most of our obese. Not simply ingesting animal protein. How simplistic to blame animal product consumption for causing obesity!

I'll continue to hunt for the majority of my family's animal protein. The consequence is we're getting free range animals who lived a "free" life up to their death. They are leaner and thus healthier than pen raised animals. No antibiotics or hormones were injected. In addition no farmer had to cultivate land to raise the wild animal, thus destroying further wild habitat. I take personal responsibillity for my family's well being... That is priceless.

[Axion]

I will be eating steak, while enjoying seeing her nude.

[Sophie]

Being a vegetarian is so much better for lots of reasons, and I'm not saying it is because you live longer of better. I think it is a matter of sensitivity and choice. If you care about animals, and don't like them dying or suffering, then you won't eat them. But then again, someone people don't even care about human beings either, they're just a piece of meet to them.
I believe eating meat is a violent habit, and you can only realise that if you care about animals, otherwise it would be like telling a murderer that people do not deserve to die. But the truth is, animals don't deserve to die either. To the person who said that they are made of meat, therefore they should be eaten; hello, you are made of meat too, sir.

[Jim at FSU Law]

A nude alicia silverstone could probably make me give up meat for an evening, but I really don't think she will be that persuasive doing a nude advert. There is so much porn on the internet that ordinary nudity is a non-event these days.

[Ian]

Stupid nonsense. ALL girls of Alicia's age look good, irrespective of eating meat, or not. Now, when she's sixty.....

[E Bailey]

As usual, regarding the above comments and ads, there is a smidgen of truth to be found in all, and the whole truth to be found in none. Sort of like politics and religion. Fact, what you eat does affect your health. Fact, diet alone cannot make up for what your genes deprive you of. Fact, your gene structure, lifestyle, and level of exercise will change what you should eat for your own personal best health. There is no one set of dietary rules that cover all persons. Fact, the meat industry is not much concerned with consumer health, they are much concerned with their profit margins. Fact, the meat industry is not concerned at all about the quality of life of what they deliver to the butcher, just what the grade marking of the meat cut is. That means healthy beasts, not necessarily happy ones.

[C]

To all those of you who claim Vegetarians are Not healthier, why else do they have a longer life expectancy? (10% average increase). The claim that they either do or do not smell better - well, typical of Times readers to devote endless lines of comment to such a pointless discussion (personally I'm a Telegraph man).
Also, the Hitler-Pol Potts point, For pity's sake! Diet, Personality. Does anyone see a link? No. Good, I'm glad we cleared that one up.
Finally, challenging the 'Morally superior' point with, 'Diet does not make someone morally superior, nor does a set of contested ideals...and btw neither does age', well really. Firstly, the criticism of this should be that morals are subjective, so no 'superiority' in reference to them exists, only preference. Secondly, all ideals are contested, so a somewhat tautalogical comment there. Furthermore, it would appear that you are all attributing value to certain moral preferences, in which case, Vegetarians are more morally consistant: batterry farming is, in all but name, torture. I wonder how many of you oh-so-moral people approve of that? I should hope (although this is the Times site) very few. Does this not mean that it is of 'greater value'?

Personally, I am a vegetarian, but I live with 3 meat eaters. We eat together, but differently, and neither my cohabitants or myself inflict our views upon each other, except when the occassional 'moral' discussion rises, which is less frequent than any epistemological discussion. This is only in aid of illustrating that vegetarians and non-vegetarians can live together, however, to begrudge vegetarians, or animal rights activist, advertising is socially abhorent! We should, you no doubt think, allow decadent companies to continue to advertise, and religious organisations to corrupt education (in all faith schools and in many non-faith schools), but vegetarians should not be allowed to show their views. Yet another wholly consitent view from the bigots that make up the Times readership! Well done to you all, you truely are British!

[Roy]

Nice. Props to Alicia.

[Alice Adams]

The argument is not that all vegetarians are nice. It is simply that if you can live a healthy life without causing suffering then it is morally best to do so.

In the western world, it is easy to avoid meat and has the added bonus of being healthier and placing less strain on the finite resources of the planet.

The suffering inflicted by the intensive farming industry in the western world is morally indefensible, and few people familiar with them are prepared to defend them on moral rather than practical or economic grounds.

[Earth Academy]

you are what you eat. rotten animal flesh becomes part of you thus you stink more of it. Maximum physical & psychic health efficiency equates = water,air,fruits,vegetables. Negative health = meat, fish, alcohol, nicotine, drugs, caffiene (coca cola/coffee etc.) namely as its both a divergence from NATURAL intake plus dis-ease from taking host bodies from living creatures (that's why they have built in programs to run when you attack, whereas plants/fruits have none). For more empirical facts check out Tony Robbins research. Or do the correct research. But certainly do not fear change, put your head in the sand or recycle dysfunctional axioms. There is a reason great minds like Einstein were/are vegetarians etc. Because they favour intelligent human progress over self serving hedonism.

[Earth Academy]

The Japanese used to live the longest. Primarily due to a diet devoid of meat & diary plus FULL ENERGY (maximum health efficiency) fresh foods. In fact dairy is not a natural diet (The Far East + Africa especially), it is a forced or tolerated one "lactose TOLERANT" is the true terminology. Remember most people (especially westernised) are programmed or uneducated on these issues. When you intake unnatural foodstuffs, your body uses more energy to convert thus you & your skin ages faster. For women, if this is an issue for you, forget surgery/cosmetics, simply give up a junk intake (drugs & meat etc.). If you meet (no pun) unhealthy vegetarians, its not because of their lifestyle choice, its because of the drugs + not knowing how to eat properly (reliance on junk or synthetic foods).

[Freswith]

In my experience, most vegetarians are slightly nutty. I do not know which comes first, the eccentricity or the vegetarianism. I have just met an old friend who was a hard-core vegetarian for a couple of decades, but is now giving it up. the improvement in her mental state has been quite remarkable.

[M PENN]

Everything in moderation meat veg exercise, end off.

[Jo]

I'm so fed up of seeing naked women everywhere! I am so bored of it and I can't be the only one turned off by the very banality...Whoopie do - female flesh. Seen it all before...put it away love.

[ADolan]

Personally I can't see why anyone wouldn't eat meat. But firstly to contradict some of the very biased and illinformed articles of 'fact' displayed so far.

Intelligent people are more likely to be vegetarian than the general population. This is due to them on average earning more and being able to afford a vegetarian lifestyle, while being able to think about the consequences of their decisions. I believe that if i didn't eat meat, the same amount of animals would be killed...so not gonna deprive myself of bacon for no pay-off.

Also it is stated that vegetarians live longer. While this is true, this is not down to the lack of meat in the diet. This is down to the fact that vegetarians eat more healthily than the general population as the have to be careful about what they eat. They don't eat as much Take-away food, as much fatty or processed foods as the rest of society. This is due to the fact vegetarianism is a prevailing middle-class attitude so a healthier and 'moral' diet is affordable for said people.
I do understand vegetarians until they ask me, "could you kill what you eat" I respond. "Yes, you're lucky you aren't tasty". Thats how you win the argument everytime. That or just keep saying "BACON"!

[Prof Mason]

"Studies have shown vegetarians have a higher IQ than meat-eating equivalents. FACT."

Oh my goodness, that's amusing! Well if a study has shown it, it must be true. Except it ain't. Einstein for example was only a vegetarian for the last year of his life - amazing how it had a retrospective effect on his intelligence, eh?

Also I've never been one, though I am omnivorous - one has to wonder if a ridiculous 'study' like that compared a veggie-only diet with a meat-only diet, in which case the former would obviously edge it. The moralising from some of the vegetarians on here is nauseating in itself - I think I'll still to a diet that includes moderate amounts of 'rotting animal flesh' thanks.

[Fiend at the Controls]

"If caring means you should stop killing things, then please dont (sic) defend your current habits just because they are your current habits.."

Thinking you are on a high horse because you can more easily objectify the death of plant LIFE over animal LIFE is worthless. You eat dead things.

[Fiend at the Controls]

"If caring means you should stop killing things, then please dont (sic) defend your current habits just because they are your current habits.."

Thinking you are on a high horse because you can more easily objectify the death of plant LIFE over animal LIFE is worthless. You eat dead things.

[Richard]

Our church promotes the Vegan diet because of the health benefits. Many people live to well over a 100 years and have a very productive life. When people want to lose weight, going vegetarian might be an advantage.

[Andy]

Carnivores are selfish and stupid. End of.

[Wholesale costume jewelry]

I've stopped eating meat for years now. I just think the way the animals are 'cared for' and killed is so terrible that I can't help but think about it when I see a chicken leg, lamb, veal, beef etc. My husband is a huge meat eater and it upsets me. I have found it to be really difficult to get the protein source that I need though. Alicia Silverstone is a sweet girl - but she doesn't pursuade me to give up meat - maybe she can be of assistance to get my husband to stop eating meat!