PETA Goes After Mars Candy Makers 
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

Oh, PETA.  You are busy this season.  First the Trollsens, now this?  Workin' overtime!  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - the "CODE Pink" of animal rights activists, if you will - are on the offensive now with candymaker Mars, Inc.

"Got a sweet tooth?" they wrote.  "Think twice before picking up a Mars candy bar!  You should know that candymaker Mars, Inc. - creator of M&M's, Snickers, Twix, Dove, Three Musketeers, Starburst, Skittles, and other candies - funds deadly animal tests, even though there are more reliable human studies, and not one of the tests is required by law."

The tests, PETA says, are on rats to determine the effects of chocolate ingredients on blood vessels.  Other tests PETA alleges they funded, though - like being "fed a candy ingredient and forced to swim in a pool of water mixed with white paint" - seem farfetched and unnecessary.  PETA has written letters to Mars President & CEO Paul S. Michaels, and launched a website called MarsCandyKills.com.

And speaking of Pamela Anderson, she's jumped onboard, too.  "When my friends at PETA showed me evidence that Mars continues to fund cruel and pointless animal tests," she wrote, "I was shocked - and it takes a lot to shock me."

"Mars' top competitor, Hershey's, has pledged not to fund or conduct experiments on animals," PETA writes.  "Other major food corporations - including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Ocean Spray, Welch's, and POM Wonderful - have also publicly ended animal tests after hearing from PETA."

Sadly, in my experience, the public doesn't get as outraged when unnecessary animal testing is being done on mice or lab rats.  However, this could potentially be bad press for Mars, just days from a holiday where chocolate abounds.

Tell us:  would you be more or less likely to buy Mars bars after PETA's allegations?

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