Guest Anglesault Report post Posted April 16, 2004 By Darren Rovell ESPN.com Taking a page out of an old high school yearbook trick, an official with an animal rights organization successfully placed a hidden message in a brick on the grounds of the San Diego Padres new stadium, Petco Park. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) had a 12-word statement engraved in an 8-by-8 inch brick -- the commemorative bricks were offered by the Padres as part of a permanent display surrounding the team's new $411 million stadium. The message reads, "Break Open Your Cold Ones! Toast The Padres! Enjoy This Championship Organization!" The first letter of every word spells "BOYCOTT PETCO." "Petco Park might be the place were homers go to die, but PETCO stores are where animals go to die," said Dan Shannon, a PETA campaign coordinator. PETCO, which has more than 650 stores in 43 states, sells animals as well as pet-related products. In January 2003, the company purchased the naming rights to the Padres' new stadium, a 22-year deal worth $60 million. Earlier this week, Padres and PETCO officials discussed whether something should be done with the brick, but PETCO executives had no problem with it. "If you walked by and read their message, you wouldn't know it had anything to do with PETA," said Don Cowan, PETCO's director of communications. PETA, which objects to the sale of animals altogether, has targeted PETCO for months, written letters to Padres executives in hopes that they would cancel the naming rights agreement. They have also sent out monthly casualty reports citing animal deaths in PETCO stores to company officials. PETCO officials contend that they have investigated some of the reports submitted by PETA and most, they say, are mischaracterizations. Since 1965, PETCO has adopted more than one million animals and over the past five years has given a total of $18 million to 1,900 animal shelters, according to Cowan. Over the past month, Petco Park has generated 100 million online and broadcast media impressions for PETCO for mentions of the park's name, Cowan added. PETA has been active in the sports world of late. In 2002, the Milwaukee Brewers denied PETA's request to include a vegetarian soy sausage in the Brewers' traditional game-day race of mascots, which includes a bratwurst, a hot dog, a Polish and Italian sausage. Shannon said that PETA plans on sending letters to the two NBA Rookie of the Year frontrunners, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, advising them to turn down the award since it is sponsored by "Got Milk?," a campaign overseen by the California Milk Processors Board. PETA officials say they object to the cruelty that dairy cows endure as a result of their treatment by dairy farmers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lightning Flik 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2004 ^ that's really all I got to say. Ok, not. I admit that subliminal message was a pretty good one. Too bad no one noticed it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vitamin X Report post Posted April 16, 2004 PETA has been active in the sports world of late. In 2002, the Milwaukee Brewers denied PETA's request to include a vegetarian soy sausage in the Brewers' traditional game-day race of mascots, which includes a bratwurst, a hot dog, a Polish and Italian sausage. Now THAT'S hilarious. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest FrigidSoul Report post Posted April 16, 2004 Petco really does suck in their maintanance of animals. The Petco where I go to buy my Geckos food sells Ferretts. There are like 30 of them in one big Octagon-esque tank and they just let the shit pile up. You can tell the shit has been piling for days too and they do nothing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2004 The message reads, "Break Open Your Cold Ones! Toast The Padres! Enjoy This Championship Organization!" The first letter of every word spells "BOYCOTT PETCO." What's their next plan? Call up the ticket office, giggle, and hang up? Its seriously juvenile. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Anglesault Report post Posted April 16, 2004 No one ever accused PETA of being evil geniuses. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DerangedHermit 0 Report post Posted April 17, 2004 The message reads, "Break Open Your Cold Ones! Toast The Padres! Enjoy This Championship Organization!" The first letter of every word spells "BOYCOTT PETCO." What's their next plan? Call up the ticket office, giggle, and hang up? Its seriously juvenile. They'll ask for I.P. Freeley, Hugh Jass or Eura Snotball. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Man in Blak 0 Report post Posted April 17, 2004 Just wait - their annual solicitation for the NBA Rookie of the Year candidates to boycott the award (since it's sponsored by the Got Milk! campaign) has got to be coming up soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted April 17, 2004 Actually, this is kind of clever and subtle compared to their usual stunt. I can not complain., Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Styles 0 Report post Posted April 17, 2004 PETA, which objects to the sale of animals altogether That should tell you all you need to know... PETA has been active in the sports world of late. In 2002, the Milwaukee Brewers denied PETA's request to include a vegetarian soy sausage in the Brewers' traditional game-day race of mascots, which includes a bratwurst, a hot dog, a Polish and Italian sausage. Idiots. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ced 0 Report post Posted April 17, 2004 *hears "PETA" and instinctively kills the nearest animal for food* Don't you usually have to donate money to get a engraved brick? If that's the case, PETA gave money to a PETCO sponsored stadium to take an extremely subtle jab at them as a company. Absolutely brilliant it that was the plan, but at least it wasn't another campaign comparing cattle slaughterhouses to the Holocaust. Though I'm not defending PETCO because for the most part they do suck at maintenance of their animals from the stores I've visited. However the perpetual annoyance that is PETA causes me to overlook that fact for the moment. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Czech Republic 0 Report post Posted April 17, 2004 Looks like they didn't catch that little detail. Frankly, utilizing clever kinks produces entertaining traditional articles. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JHawk 0 Report post Posted April 17, 2004 Brilliant, isn't it? Let's give money to the organization in order to insult them. You half expect them to open up a Guinness and go "brilliant!" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Angel_Grace_Blue 0 Report post Posted April 17, 2004 Well, I'm glad that PETA didn't take it's usual route of protest and firebomb the stadium. Fuckin' arsonists. Secondly, how in the hell would you represent a vegetarian soy hotdog? Kinda weak and scrawny and unable to complete the race or something? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
