The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals might be barking up the wrong mushroom.
On Monday, the controversial organization issued a press release attacking iconic Nintendo mascot Mario for wearing a 'Tanooki' suit in his latest adventure, the Nintendo 3DS game Super Mario 3D Land, which hit shelves on Sunday.
"Tanooki may be just a "suit" in Mario games, but by wearing the skin of an animal, Mario is sending the message that it's OK to wear fur," PETA says.
The raccoon-like suit, which grants Mario the ability to glide across the screen, has been a part of the franchise since first appearing as a power-up in 1988's Super Mario Bros. 3. In the new game, Mario acquires the suit not by doing something lousy to a Tanooki, but by snagging a Super Leaf.
Still, PETA insists this encourages animal abuse.
"Tanukis are real-life raccoon dogs who are beaten and, as PETA's undercover exposés show, often skinned alive for their fur," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "This winter, everyone can give raccoon dogs and other fabulous animals a 1-UP by keeping our wardrobes fur-free."
To help prove their point, PETA has even commissioned a crude parody video game called "Super Tanooki Skin 2D" in which players try to re-capture their skin from a flying Mario (Warning: Kind of disturbing, and totally not fun.)
It's just the latest in a long line of PETA game complaints. In 2008 they went after Cooking Mama for not being a vegetarian, while just last year they parodied challenging downloadable platform hit Super Meat Boy for starring a piece of raw meat.
Nintendo has yet to comment, though we're pretty sure it will sound like a hand slapping a forehead.

>> Hi, the doctor here, I just wanted to say......ow....my....head....is about to .....explode!
Here's the address for the game
http://features.peta.org/mario-kills-tanooki/

Also, I'm surprised they didn't include the "Riding Yoshi" as animal abuse!......fuckin retards! damn!

I expected nothing less from those dumbfucks :V

I remember that Super Meat Boy one though. From what I heard, they actually wanted PETA to make that half-assed parody Super Tofu Boy, both for publicity and because it let them implement tofu boy as a joke character.

Remember when Obama swatted a fly? They completely jizzed in their pants over that!

Fucking jackasses. Mario gains the powers of a Tanuki, hence he is called Tanooki-Mario. What about his frog suit? Or the fact he jumps on turtles. PETA can eat a dick.

Nice. Maybe they should sue Pokemon next for "promoting animal violence and abuse."

Those people are idiots.IT'S A VIDEO GAME!!!!! I mean, Come. On. It's not like animals are actually being hurt. Sure, they're helping with animal abuse, IN REAL LIFE, but leave the digital world ALONE.

maybe as soon as i see some random asshoel go out and make it their mission to kill an animal, skin it, then wear the fur of that animal and then say "mario gave me the idea" will i think this campaign is neccessary, and even then it would have to be a swarm of people, otherwise that person would just make my "dumbass" list. not cool PETA

I think that they're just bored and have all this power of media

>>9 i wouldnt say "bored" but rather "desperate" there are bigger, better fish to fry than a god damn videogame, they just cant go against those people.

PETA may do good things in preventing animal abuse, but things like this are hilariously over-reacting and just wreck their public image. In fact, I don't really remember anything positive about them anymore, just all their crazy hijinks.

>>11 Doing good things sometimes does not excuse an entire existence of ridiculous dumbshittery. It has been a personal desire of mine to bring bucketfulls of bacon to a PETA gathering and start munching on it like popcorn.

Sorry - I don't really have anything else but that to add to the conversation. PETA is dumb, end of story.

i wouldn't call PETA as an organization dumb, but they do some really stupid shit sometimes. i respect their goals and agree with some of their points, but you can NOT go and accomplish your goals in a stupid way such as blaming a children's videogame for an adult international trade.

It's just the adults trying to get us away from games like they always do.

I ran into the cooking mama game they made awhile back. I thought it was a joke made by adult swim before I saw the Peta logo. They way they portray themselves its almost comical

Y U NO LIKE MARIO??

While I despise the fact that some people hunt for sport or just abuse animals, I definitely think that PETA takes things way too far/seriously.

*Headdesk* Oh my gosh... this is just ridiculous!

I wanted to join, but they are just too nuts. Would they even let me join since I eat meat?
Well, It's good to know that the people running it get the closest parking spots ANYWHERE! (Mentally challenged joke, in case you didn't get it)

I'm gonna join, then build my way up and run it myself! The next time something stupid comes across my desk, i'll say, "Fuck off! There's more important things to do, go back to your day job!"

>>19 okay, I get that they're trying to help animals, but this is completely over the top, and ridiculous.

I must say, I love crazy vegans

PETA...Just get the fuck out this is getting outrageous.

PETA actually said that they were just kidding.... a little too late for that

If it's not one thing it's another. They have to keep their name in the papers less we forget they exist...

>>25 a.k.a PETA suddenly realized they were being dumb but waited too long to say so and still have people take them seriously? seems about right.

peta. peta peta peta. chill out.

This is just ridiculous. PETA bashing Mario? Really? PFFFT. Find something better to gripe at, people.