It may not be the fastest chicken in the south, but it will be the most protested - PETA has made it to NASCAR, again. The Talladega Superspeedway will attempt to break a Guinness World Record on Sunday when the Sprint Cup circuit races in Alabama. The record? The most people doing the chicken dance simultaneously. The previous record (last confirmed record) set in Ohio in 1996 is 72,000 dancing chickens.
The mecca for all things Earnhardt and NASCAR has brainstormed one of the biggest publicity stunts of the 2009 racing season - so far. They not only thought of it, they sold it - to fast food giant KFC.
It is not the chicken dance attempt that has the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals in a tizzy, it is KFC's involvement with the record breaking attempt. KFC has been blasted in the past for their treatment of birds slaughtered for serving in their restaurant chains. PETA claims that KFC has made no attempt to implement cost effective, humane slaughter practices of their birds.
This is not the first appearance turning left for the animal rights activists. In 2004 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was sponsored by KFC and put his famous racing mug on a bucket of chicken. (Fast fact: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is the only other individual besides the Colonel that has graced the bucket of their famous recipe.) This pairing prompted PETA guru Pam Anderson to 'personally' write a letter to Earnhardt, Jr. prompting him to end his partnership with KFC because "little chickens need a big man like Dale to stick up for them!"
The bigger question is Guinness's involvement. Guinness has stated that it will “not accept records based on the killing or harming of animals.”
Is the chicken dance really a record based on killing chickens?
Dignity, yes; chickens, no.
1 comment:
Did Dale pull his sponsorship off the KFC bucket after Pam's letter? I hope not.
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