PETA Smacks Nintendo with Mario Bros. Game

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.

“The suit is inspired by Japanese raccoon dogs, or tanukis, who in Japanese folklore are often mischievous masters of disguise or shape shifting,” the site reports.

The folks at PETA argue that Nintendo is endorsing the act of wearing fur with the design of this game: “Tanooki may be just a ‘suit’ in Mario games, but in real life, tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur,” PETA said in a statement. “By wearing Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it’s OK to wear fur.”

With the statement online PETA ingeniously includes a game to play called “Super Tanooki Skin 2D.” The game has a skinned tanuki going after a flying Mario, who is wearing the mystical skin of the tanuki. 

You can always count on PETA to find new ways to make their point.