Preaching to the choir

I really don't understand some of PETA's methods. Sometimes they take their positions to such ridiculous extremes, they just turn themselves into a caricature. Like this. They want 80s pop band The Pet Shop Boys, who have just released a new album, to change their name. Really? How is this worth their time, effort, and resources? By engaging in this kind of silly public request, they just take away credibility from their more substantive efforts to actually protect animals.

I don't agree with a lot of their positions (I love my steak, for example), but I do think they have the potential to do good on issues like puppy mills, treatment of animals used in entertainment, etc. When they waste their time on silly things like this, though, they just make it easier for people to laugh them off when they address those serious issues.

Because no one thinks the name of a pop group really has any impact whatsoever on the treatment of animals. Rational people get this, so by not getting it, PETA makes themselves seem like irrational whack-jobs.