Baltimore restaurant Jimmy’s Famous Seafood has taken the billboard battle with PETA to a new level, erecting a billboard of its own: "SteaMEd Crabs. Here to Stay."
Two weeks ago, the animal rights organization PETA erected several billboards in one of the nation's top seafood hubs -- Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The billboards, which urged Maryland residents to stop eating seafood, featured an image of a crab next to the slogan, "I'm ME, not meat. See the individual. Go vegan." The PETA logo was emblazoned in the corner.
Some residents did not take kindly to the criticism of their state food (which, in case you were unaware, is crab). According to a statement on the campaign by PETA's executive vice-president Tracy Reimen, the organization strategically chose to position the billboards above popular seafood restaurants.
This week, one restaurant owner fired back by erecting a billboard of his own.
Like PETA's, the billboards erected by Jimmy's Famous Seafood featured a picture of a crab -- but a cooked one, next to the words, "SteaMEd crabs. Here to stay. Get famous."
As with PETA's slogan (I'm ME, not meat), the billboards capitalized the letters M and E for allusion.
John Minadakis, CEO of Jimmy's Famous Seafood, hoped to fire back at PETA with the billboards, dismissing the animal rights organization's campaign against eating crab, which is the most popular item at his restaurant.
Courtesy of Jimmy's Famous Seafood Restaurant/Twitter
"My father always told me when someone punches you, just make sure you punch them back even harder," Mindakis told Baltimore's WBAL-TV News once his billboards garnered attention. "I wasn't going to take it lying down. I wasn't worried about offending anybody. I was just worried about opening my doors the next morning."
The restaurant also posted an image of the billboard on Twitter, with a caption criticizing PETA for erecting the billboards in its territory. The caption read, "Our Yard. #SteamThemAll."
Reiman defended placing the billboards in Baltimore: “PETA’s billboard aims to give Charm City residents some food for thought about sparing sensitive marine animals the agony of being boiled alive or crushed to death in fishing nets simply by going vegan.”
Jimmy's Famous Seafood, however, continued to spar with PETA in a series of several tweets as the turf war over Baltimore billboards continues to heat up. On the morning of August 24, the restaurant posted a picture of a pile of steamed crabs, with the caption: "Good morning, @peta," punctuated with an emoji of a crab.
Last Friday, prior to the start of Labor Day weekend, Jimmy's Seafood once again fired off at PETA on Twitter. The restaurant vented its outrage in a series of several tweets, describing "the crab industry" as "under attack" by the organization.
With the new "SteaMEd crabs" billboards, it's clear that this turf war is far from over.
Whose side do you take? Let us know what you think of the billboards in the comments.
Read our initial article about the "crabby" situation right here!
