990831 PETA Ads Linking Meat With Impotence WithdrawnAugust 14, 1999Calgary, Alberta - An animal rights group withdrew a series of racy billboards on Friday that linked eating meat with impotence after Canadian women's groups and angry residents protested. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals had targeted the western cities of Calgary, Alberta and Regina, Saskatchewan with its ads showing a bikini-clad model grasping a link of raw sausages and the slogan: “I threw a party but the cattlemen couldn't come.” The Norfolk, Virginia-based group, whose ad had already been rejected by billboard companies in 13 American states, chose western Canada because it encompasses most of the country's cattle industry. Calgary is often referred to as Cowtown. But Mediacom, the billboard advertising company, said on Friday it decided not to post the ad after initially agreeing to do so, citing “tremendous community criticism.” The animal rights group had blanketed media outlets with copies of the “Eating meat can cause impotence” poster, so it was widely publicized in advance of it going up outdoors. “We're obviously quite disappointed,” said Bruce Friedrich, a spokesman for the advocacy group. “We're disappointed that the billboard company capitulated and put free speech second to public pressure.” The group cites a series of scientific studies showing fat and cholesterol in beef, pork and chicken clog arteries to all human organs, not just the heart. A vegetarian diet, meanwhile, enhances sexual performance, it said. Officials with Toronto-based Mediacom declined to comment, but issued a statement saying its phones had been “ringing nonstop” since the group began publicizing the campaign. The company now believes the campaign was not in the best interest of the community. “We think the billboard is amusing and all of the women that we know love the billboard,” Friedrich said. “It was conceived by women and designed by women.”
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