In the spirit of Colin Kaepernick, PETA is urging people to take a knee to stop injustice against animals.
On Friday, the animal rights organization released a Super Bowl spot, featuring animated animals kneeling in their natural habitats while the melody of the Star-Spangled Banner softly plays in the background. The goal of the ad is to advocate for the end of “speciesism,” which the org defines as a form of discrimination and a supremacist worldview that humans have toward other species. “It allows humans to disrespect other living, feeling beings and to treat their interests as unimportant,” reads a statement on PETA’s website.
Although the organization was willing to pay over $10 million for the 60-second spot, it says their ad has not been approved by Fox to air during Super Bowl LIV this Sunday. According to PETA, the NFL pressured Fox to reject the spot.
“The National Football League (NFL) apparently found our new Colin Kaepernick–inspired ad—with its message of inclusion and respect—too daring and pressured FOX to snub our commercial,” reads the statement. PETA added that the ad was “positively acknowledged by Kaepernick” to pay “homage to all movements that remind us to open our hearts and minds and reject all forms of injustice, including sexism, ableism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and speciesism.”
According to TMZ, PETA also requested that the ad air in local Fox markets either before or after the Super Bowl but have gotten no response from the network.
“The NFL may be unconcerned with inequality, but we at PETA are activists who will continue to work to dismantle all forms of oppression,” says the group.
Back in 2016, Kaepernick launched the Take A Knee movement when he kneeled during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality in the United States. As a result, the former 49ers quarterback was essentially blacklisted from the league.
Watch the ad below.