The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are upset with Mario.
The group has target the video game plumber for wearing a Tanooki suit, modeled after Japanese raccoon dogs called tanuki in one level of the new Super Mario Land 3-D. The outfit lets Mario float in the air following a jump.
According to PETA, this is encouraging players young and old that it’s okay to wear fur.
“When on a mission to rescue the princess, Mario has been known to use any means necessary to defeat his enemy—even wearing the skin of a raccoon dog to give him special powers. Tanooki may be just a ‘suit’ in Mario games, but in real life, tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur. By wearing Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it’s OK to wear fur,” PETA said in a statement.
However, PETA follows up saying there were only trying to have a little fun with Mario.
In an interview with Kotaku, PETA media coordinator Shakira Croce says the Super Tanooki Skin 2D game “was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, a fun way to call attention to a serious issue, that raccoon dogs are skinned alive for their fur.”
PETA even built a Flash mini-game to hammer home their point.
“By wearing Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it’s OK to wear fur,” reads a statement on the PETA web page.
“We were a little surprised that the game was taken so literally by some, but we’re thrilled that we’re able to bring so much attention to raccoon dogs whose suffering is very real,” PETA spokesperson Ashley Palmer tells Kotaku.
Palmer also tells the gaming site 250,000 people played their game in the first 36 hours.
I don’t get it. Don’t these people know that Fur was meant to be worn? We ride the animal, eat the animal, and wear their fur. when will these people ever learn.
They just now think that this is an issue? Mario also wore the Tanooki suite in Super Mario Brothers 3 way back in 1998.