Just because PETA was way too late in organizing the "Mario Kills Tanoki" campaign stunt, equating Mario's love for a Tanooki costume to killing raccoon dogs and wearing their fur, doesn't mean they were at all serious. I mean, how can you blame them for something sooooo hilarious? It was a dumb media stunt, anyway. PETA's media coordinator Shakira Croce explains to Kotaku:
Mario fans: Relax! PETA's game was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, a fun way to call attention to a serious issue, that raccoon dogs are skinned alive for their fur. We wish real-life tanukis could fly or swat enemies away with their tails and escape from those who profit from their skins. You can help them by never buying real fur.
No one really believes that Mario actually kills and skins a raccoon dog for his fur in Super Mario 3D Land.
Our spoof is simply making a serious point: that there is a much darker story behind tanuki skins than Mario lets on. In games like Call of Duty, where characters shoot and kill animals, or in Dog Wars, where players have fun fighting and torturing dogs, it sends a dangerous message that this kind of behavior is acceptable.
We know how beloved Mario is-we are huge Mario fans ourselves! We were a little surprised that the game was taken so literally by some, but we're thrilled that we're able to bring so much attention to raccoon dogs whose suffering is very real.
See? They're real Mario fans! They go beyond the everyday love for Mario and turn it into a sick joke. Ha ha ha!
Meanwhile, PETA received 2,345 animals in 2010, transferred 63 of them, had 44 adopted, and killed the remaining 2,200! That's a kill percentage of 93.8%! Go PETA!
[Source]
