PETA Threw a Hanging Curveball and all of Baseball Swung

Gordon Liang

10/31/2021

PETA wanted the attention of the baseball world and they got it. On October 28th, the “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals” (PETA) started their campaign for baseball to change the term “bullpen” to “arm barn.” The hopes were to get baseball fans to talk: and talk they did.

As of October 31st 12:32 AM Pacific Time, PETA’s twitter post encouraging baseball fans to consider their terminology drew 839 likes, roughly 6,900 comments and 6,677 retweets. Compared to their other posts, these statistics are a huge jump and PETA wanted exactly that.

“We welcome discussion about—and even criticism of—the things we say and do, because we know that getting people talking is the first step in raising awareness of animal issues,” PETA wrote in an email to StrosTalk.

The campaign certainly wasn’t popular but it was certainly effective in drawing conversation. As mentioned earlier, the post drew roughly 6,900 comments and got the attention of multiple baseball outlets like “Talkin’ Baseball” on Twitter. Baseball fans fell perfectly into PETA’s first step and now the ball is back in their court as they try to convince baseball fans that “arm barn” is the term of the future.

PETA’s campaign not only did its job in creating controversy and conversation, it also cost the organization little to nothing.

PETA wrote, “While companies that profit from abusing animals have multimillion-dollar ad budgets, we work creatively against a sea of distractions to draw people’s attention to the topic of animal rights—in this case, by suggesting a modern update to a name that many folks use without thinking of its origin. Words matter—and as our understanding of social justice evolves, our language evolves along with it.”

PETA is listed as a non-profit organization so they rely on controversy for free press. Now the term “arm barn” is thrown around the baseball world. When the term “bullpen” is mentioned, so is PETA. They’ve solidified their association with the sport so those who think of bullpens, now think of the company that fights animal cruelty. All while saving money and simply being controversial. PETA called their campaign a “made you look” tactic and while it certainly did make the baseball world look, one may be wondering if PETA actually prioritizes the terminology shift or if the campaign was just a free advertisement for their other projects.