PETA Takes Shot at Manti Te’o in Effort To Stop Chicken Wing Eating During Super Bowl

Notre Dame star linebacker and NFL hopeful Manti Te’o was the victim of an internet hoax that led him to believe his girlfriend was dead. News eventually broke that the news was all fake, and Te’o has been the butt of all internet jokes since the breaking news. The latest shot at Te’o comes from the folks at PETA —  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

PETA is running a campaign for faux-chicken in hopes of saving the lives of chickens who are otherwise slaughtered to be eaten as chicken wings during the Super Bowl. The company will be running this ad on a billboard by the Superdome. Last year, 1.25 billion chicken wings were consumed during the Super Bowl.

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They are hoping that number significantly decreases with their faux-chicken.

Here is the text that accompanied the Te’o ad, via PETA’s official blog:

"Manti Te’o may have been buffaloed by a fake girlfriend, but sometimes “fake” is actually better. That’s why PETA created this billboard urging football fans to avoid unnecessary roughness to chickens on Super Bowl Sunday by intentionally grounding real chicken wings and opting for play-action fake fowl instead:Those animals in PETA’s “Glass Walls” video? Unlike Manti’s make-believe girlfriend, their deaths are real. Birds slaughtered for their wings and other body parts are often dropped into tanks of scalding-hot water while they are still conscious and aren’t covered by even the meager protections of the Humane Slaughter Act.The price of chicken wings is currently skyrocketing because of higher feed costs caused by this summer’s drought, which makes now the perfect time to try vegan wings, such as Gardein Classic Style Buffalo Wings, a favorite of vegetarian and former Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams."

Poor Manti. That kid can’t catch a break, but it was a clever crack from PETA.

Luckily for Te’o, this will all be in the rear-view mirror after April’s 2013 NFL Draft where he will likely be a first-round selection, but he should still get used to the jokes because they will be coming his way in the NFL locker rooms.