What if eating fish were the same as eating a cat? That was the provocative question behind PETA’s latest campaign, unveiled for World Day for the End of Speciesism. The imagery showed a fishmonger holding first a fish, then a cat, with the blunt slogan: “See the difference? Open your eyes.”
Planned for display across several cities in Brittany, the campaign was approved by a media agency before being abruptly cancelled without an official explanation. But rather than treating the rejection as a setback, PETA has turned it into a communication strategy — using the ban itself to spark debate.
Originally, the goal was to draw attention to speciesism, the belief system that ranks animals according to whether they are considered food or companions. In a region where fishing is a cultural cornerstone, the campaign was designed to disrupt familiar imagery and challenge deep-rooted habits.
By publicising the refusal, PETA reframes the controversy: censorship becomes the message. A tightly written press release invited media coverage, while social networks amplified the story. The paradox is clear — while adverts featuring dead animals as food are commonplace, a poster questioning that very logic is deemed unacceptable.
This tension is precisely what PETA seeks to exploit. The organisation argues that fish, like cats or dogs, are sentient beings capable of intelligence and suffering, and should be afforded the same moral consideration. In the end, the poster may never have appeared on the streets of Brittany, but its absence is proving even more powerful than its presence.
