(Don't) show us your udders, ladies!

"Girls Gone Wild" has been taken over by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.\nActually, no, it hasn't. But PETA's new anti-dairy campaign, "Milk Gone Wild," is comparable to the videos of young women flashing their breasts on spring break.\nThe ad features a bar, where women lift up their shirts to reveal udders, rather than human breasts, and spray milk out of them to the delight of the male patrons.\nAfter this, the ad rolls footage of slaughterhouse workers draining retired dairy cows of all their blood and farmers selling crippled calves for veal.\nI've tried on many occasions to be a vegetarian and failed, succumbing to a pepperoni pizza or other meaty items. I know these things are full of unnatural hormones. I'm lactose intolerant and shouldn't even go near dairy, actually. Still, old habits die hard.\nThe "Milk Gone Wild" ad angered me and, to be honest, grossed me out. But the slaughterhouse segment didn't bother me as much as the bar scene did. I'm not surprised ABC banned it from the Super Bowl. As much as I support the ethical treatment of animals, I do not support the objectification of women, even as a means to an end.\nPETA goes even farther on the "Milk Gone Wild" Web site by offering up the prosthetic udders in a contest. Scrolling factoids say milk is less healthy than beer and drinking it causes men to develop breasts. You can buy a "Milk Gone Wild" thong and read bios of the four "Udder Babes" featured in the ad.\nOn Salon's Broadsheet Web site, commentary about the campaign ranged from irate to unsurprised. Some suggested that PETA wants consumers to realize adults drinking cow milk are no different from adults drinking human breast milk. Cows' udders and women's breasts are both treated badly, only for different reasons. Breasts are cut down to a sexualized object and udders are abused for their milk production. Yes, it is different. But could it be an accurate connection?\nI connected the dots and agree it makes sense. At first, I didn't think the metaphor justified the delivery. Yet as I read through the "Milk Gone Wild" Web site, I realized that it might, as much as I don't like it.\nPETA intends to shock people and cause discussion with its campaign, as it has done before. With this it does an excellent job. The first segment got my attention and caused an emotion. The second got me thinking about what I purchase and eat, while causing a greater emotion. \nAlthough the information in the ad and on the Web site got me thinking about animal products, the "Milk Gone Wild" motif did not. The campaign is more shock than value, in the end. Without diving into the debate for and against animal products, it is difficult to get into the meat of the argument behind the campaign. So, please, PETA, leave the "Girls Gone Wild" antics out of it.