I know this may be hard to believe, but if you spent your childhood summers playing Super Mario Bros with your friends you might be next on PETA’s most wanted list. That’s right: almost 20 years after the game has come and gone from popularity PETA has decided to use everyone’s favorite stereotypical plumber as the poster-boy for animal abuse, bad taste and apparently the resurgence of 8-bit video games online.
Now I know you probably don’t have any old issues of NINTENDO POWER lying around your house so I’ll take you through the way-back machine to explain PETA’s logic on this one.
If you sat there long enough and played the game until the console got warm and your mother started yelling at you to come up stairs and wash the dishes you might’ve found the fabled Tanooki Suit in Super Mario Bros 3. What was the Tanooki you ask? What – were you one of those kids who actually played outside when you were younger instead of reading comic books and playing video games all day? The Tanooki suit was this Raccoon looking outfit that allowed Mario to smash Koopas, fly for limited distances and of course, turn into a completely still statue (the value of this was limited).
Anyway, it took 20 years for PETA to be offended by Mario’s choice of a dead raccoon to receive mystical powers and the organization has taken it upon themselves to create a video game to highlight cruelty to raccoons – while taking a pound off the plucky plumber. You can play as a vengeful Tanooki, show Mario who’s boss and – I guess – get high on magical mushrooms in your spare time.
Hey: I’m all in favor of PETA trying to get folks interested in the plight of the raccoon dog. But, dredging up video games from 20 years ago seems to be a stretch. I mean, isn’t that just the way things were back then? Don’t tell me it wasn’t obvious that SONY put a Hedgehog on steroids . If PETA really wants to connect with today’s kids they need to point out that Pokemon is really just a Japanese word for forced animal labor and cockfighting. Hey kids, Pikachu doesn’t really love you!
This article originally appeared online at Politic365.com.