Pretty much nothing stops People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals from trying to make a point so it shouldn’t come as a surprise really that the organization recently unleashed its collective fury at a video game for lifting a little Japanese folklore.

The latest subject of PETA's rage? Nintendo’s longtime financial powerhouse, the Mario Bros. In some of the franchise’s games, including most recently Super Mario 3D Land, the character can don a tanooki fur suit, which “allows Mario to briefly turn to stone for disguise and protective purposes, as well as float through the air,” according to PrimaryIgnition.com. And you know how PETA feels about fur.Continue reading...

Long before Occupy Wall Street took over the press (and hundreds of cities), PETA was showing the young 'uns how it's done. Constantly grabbing the headlines with in-your-face advertising and local stunts, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals organization was building its brand of provocative branding.

They're still at it, of course. Just this week, PETA sued SeaWorld in Orlando for "enslaving" Orca whales; called for a ban on private ownership of exotic animals in the wake of the Zanesville tragedy; asked director Cameron Crowe to tame the marketing for his upcoming movie, We Bought a Zoo; offered a $5,000 reward to document animal abuses at a Toledo circus and $1,000 for information in a puppy mutilation case; and dispatched zombies to protest a steakhouse in Cincinnati and promote veganism.

They've also been lobbying NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg to address the situation of carriage horses dropping dead in the streets, a black eye for Big Apple tourism that PETA asked Glee star Lea Michele to address in a PSA earlier this year. And of course, there's its long-running cheeky series of stripping celebs protesting fur.Continue reading...

The above demonstration of remarkable loyalty by a dog to save its buddy, posted three days ago, now has more than 5.8 million views on YouTube; and, yes, the dogs were rescued. CNN posted this update today on animal rescue efforts in Japan.

Another brand marketer at Sunday's Super Bowl that came under fire: CareerBuilder, which garnered a pre-game boo from PETA for bringing back chimps as actors this year, following a five-year hiatus.Continue reading...