The latest entry into the Mario Kart franchise added a number of unique characters to play as, including being able to race as one of the cows from the Moo Moo Farm track. PETA has taken offense with a choice regarding Cow in Mario Kart World, however, and has sent a letter to Nintendo's president Shuntaro Furukawa asking the company to make a change to the character. The animal rights group explains that nose rings on cows are cruelty, and they shouldn't be featured as part of the character's design.

We know Mario Kart World is just a game—and that’s exactly why Cow’s nose ring needs to go. Mario Kart is supposed to be a fun escape, not a reminder of the painful tools used on cows in the meat and dairy industries. No one wants to think about animal suffering while zipping around a race track.

PETA has made a number of requests to Nintendo in the past, advocating on how Animal Crossing: New Horizons cultivates abusive behavior towards fish and insects by capturing them and putting them in a museum, and in 2012, even made a parody flash game decrying the violence of the Pokemon series.

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[NinStar]

They are not wrong, the nose ring on them always bothered me for this exact reason.

And yes, I'm aware this is a small thing compared to the fact that the cow can literally eat meat in this game, but it
still is something that comes of as made in bad taste (even if unintentional), so changing it would be better in the long term.

 

[smilodon]

5 pages on a clickbait news? PETA has already won.

 

[Shape]

They are not wrong, the nose ring on them always bothered me for this exact reason.

And yes, I'm aware this is a small thing compared to the fact that the cow can literally eat meat in this game, but it
still is something that comes of as made in bad taste (even if unintentional), so changing it would be better in the long term.

They're not *wrong* wrong, but they're using hyperbolic language which, to an extent, invalidates their own argument and position. And you said yourself: they're hyperfocused on the ring and glossing over bigger issues.

I will say, the cow would actually be a lot cuter and more marketable without the nose ring. HOWEVER I have a suspicion that the nose ring might actually exist to distance the cow from another copyright character they do not have rights to, so it is likely here to stay.

 

[Lumpofcoal]

No one wants to think about animal suffering while zipping around a race track.

Who?

The reality is that the overwhelming majority of players don't care about it because they don't see it as an issue in the first place. And I seriously doubt most of peta play the game or that they would if it is removed.

 

[jeremy2020]

Peta kills more animals than any other organization in the world. Maybe they should start protesting themselves.

 

[TomSwitch]

Oh look, PETA pulled another stunt for attention. It's purposefully ridiculous to drum up views and publicity. Ignore PETA. Don't give them the time of day.

It's all about Nintendo and what makes people feel good by talking about Nintendo.

 

[kiaghi7]

⌐_⌐ Really?
The jackasses at PETA know that the pixels on the screen don't actually feel pain, nor are they ever turned into meat to be eaten, etc.
As is so often the case with these obsolete complaining organizations, they have to try to keep themselves "relevant" through being ever bigger idiots than the last thing they wet their pants over.
The children who threw temper tantrums in the store, screaming and flailing on the floor because they couldn't get the candy bar or toy they wanted, but were never scolded or punished into correct behavior, are now the people who make up these organizations for always complaining about ever more frivolous things.

 

[Xdqwerty]

Nintendo has never listened to PETA, so why do it now?

 

[scoobydude51]

5 pages on a clickbait news? PETA has already won.

we love to laugh a PETA whenever this happens. this is normal.

 

[Memfis]

@Chary: Go to the board and write 100 times: I shouldn't feed the troll. Everyone knows PETA is a troll. The fact that so many media outlets are wasting ink on this is just embarrassing. Classic silly season nonsense."

Nintendo has never listened to PETA, so why do it now?

In reaction of the letter Nintendo should give the cow an ear clip and put a slaughterhouse to the farm. Just to troll them back. I think in that case, they never write a letter again and shut up.

 

[raxadian]

They are wrong, because the cow isn't real, and they are just doing this for the free publicity.

If the fictional cow is smart enough to drive and win races, then it is smart enough to decide if it wants to wear a nose ring or not.

 

[ZeroT21]

PETA is a scam. They solely exist for profit

 

[AdenTheThird]

Way to go, PETA. Always focusing on the issues that matter!

/s

 

[Greninji88]

PETA's gonna scream when they see the cow spin out in a kart/fall out of the kart/get hit by other karts, etc

 

[HarveyHouston]

This is the dumbest thing I've read today.

 

[ikynx]

I’d ask how these clowns are still around.. but then I remember that a separate pack of clowns contacted payment processors over games.

Clowns still around? I mean look at your government.

 

[Skelletonike]

Many moons ago, back when I was an emo teenager with an emo vegetarian (not vegan) girlfriend, I liked PETA (well, my gf back then made me like them). Granted, this was before 2010.

After they made that Pokemon video... I really couldn't take them seriously anymore, especially after all the dodgy situations around it already.

 

[retrospect]

I'm with PETA in this one. It's all positives for removing the ring. It adds nothing.

People are saying it's a stunt for attention. It's not only that, but yes, of course organisations like PETA need to be known to stay relevant. They do stunts all the time for this purpose, Super Tofu Boy being the one probably best known here.

 

[sexually_inactive]

PETA, the organization that kills more animals than it saves.

How exactly do they kill more animals than they save? As far as I'm aware they're some fanatical vegan group but don't know more about them than that.

 

[genxor]

Took them over 2 months, lol. They used to be more current with their outrage-bait