Animals--and Kids--Deserve a Break Today

The folks at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, are at it again, taking on yet another national institution: the McDonald’s Happy Meal. PETA is kicking off a national “Unhappy Meal” tour this summer, hoping to scare kids away from cheeseburgers and Chicken McNuggets.

The organization is planning to distribute its colorful “Unhappy Meal” boxes, which describe the alleged mistreatment of chickens and pigs in gory detail, to kids at McDonald’s playgrounds.

“It’s the animals who deserve a break today, and kids can give them one by recognizing that Ronald McDonald isn’t a clown, he’s a murderer,” says PETA president Ingrid Newkirk in typically overblown fashion.

Give me a break today! I’m all for animal rights (and Ronald McDonald is kinda spooky looking), but PETA is assaulting children with images that are horrifying.

Inside the “Unhappy Meal” are a “McCruelty” sticker, a plastic, blood-spattered cow and pig, and an ax-wielding Ronald McDonald doll. A maze on the back of the box challenges kids to lead Hettie Heifer to green pastures instead of the “butcher’s knife,’ represented by an illustration of a bloody cow squeezed between two hamburger buns.

Walt Riker, a spokesman for McDonald’s in Oak Brook, Ill., said the company has met with PETA in the past, is in the process of creating what he called an “animal welfare council” and is committed to enforcing “good animal practices” among its suppliers.

PETA defends this campaign the way it defends its others: Shocking the public is the only way to get its attention. PETA gets attention all right, but its tactics not only alienate people who might be sympathetic, but also exploit children in a totally unethical way. I think it’s time for a PETA strategy overhaul.

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Helping animals in a quieter way. . . . An unlikely group of soap stars, pro-wrestlers and one 1960s pop artist has gotten together to autograph and paint one-of-a-kind pet bowls to auction for charity.

The whimsical bowls were created by Shemar Moore and David Tom of “The Young and the Restless,” Sarah Brown of “General Hospital,” wrestlers Sting, Kimberly Page and Mike Awesome, and others.

The auction begins Monday at https://www.soapcity.com. Proceeds will benefit the Humane Society of New York, but, hey, humaneness is humaneness in any state. And judging from recent news reports, New York could use some at this point.

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What’s the deal with those “Gilligan’s Island” fisherman hats everyone’s wearing?

Kobe Bryant has been sporting Adidas versions in navy blue and white in Indiana, and Restoration Hardware has them in terry cloth. The $9 “Sans Souci” hat is “tres sportif,” according to Restoration Hardware-speak. “The hat of the baked-in-the-sun fisherman.”

I think they look a bit dorky, but whatever floats your boat. And Kobe Bryant can float my boat any day.

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ooth Moore can be reached at booth.moore@latimes.com.