There is a new battleground in the fight against the anti-animal forces that are bent on destroying the American livestock industry. What makes this significant is that the battleground is not controlled by the mass media, special interest groups, PR companies, HSUS or PETA.

This new battleground is controlled by consumers, individuals from a variety of backgrounds taking on the radical fringe and their efforts to control what we eat. This new battleground is the world of social media: Facebook, Twitter, and the myriad of other web-based networks that link people together in cyberspace and transmit information around the world at the speed of light.
Unlike the wacko-friendly mass media, this social media has a decidedly anti-nutcase slant, and these social networkers do not suffer fools for more than a few milliseconds. HSUS, PETA and some large U.S. corporations are learning some painful lessons in this new social world.

Yellow Tail wine is a brand owned by Casella Wines, a family owned and operated winery with winemaking links going back six generations. Until last week, they were the Cinderella story of the wine world having gone from a small family owned winery to international distributor of Yellow Tail wine. Then they made a mistake that has certainly cost them their reputation and could end up costing them their business. The Australian-based winery climbed into bed with the Humane Society of the United States.

The effort included an agreement for the winery to contribute $100,000 to HSUS. This was not totally out of character for the company which has had strong ties with the vegan community. But the backlash from U.S. consumers was quick and vehement. Within hours of the announcement, Yellow Tail was hit with a blizzard of e-mails and the Yellow Tail fan page on Facebook quickly filled with strong statements of condemnation. Hundreds of Yellow Tail drinkers said they were pouring the wine down the drain and would never buy the product again.

The social media atmosphere lets individuals express their thoughts without reservation. The dislike for HSUS was overwhelming. Those few who expressed sympathy for HSUS were quickly shouted down by a chorus of cynical barbs and insults.

A special anti-Yellow Tail page quickly appeared on Facebook called Yellow Fail. Numerous blogs took up the chant decrying Yellow Tail’s decision to give money to an organization where less than one-half of 1 percent of the funds raised actually went to helping animals. Several national animal organizations condemned the wine company, and some farmers and ranchers posted You Tube videos on the topic.

Yellow Tail officials attempted to do damage control, but their response fell far short of the mark, “We’ve listened to your recent feedback and it was very helpful to us – in fact it prompted us to specifically choose the areas where we’d most like to celebrate animals. Here’s what we’ve decided: We’ll still honor our monetary commitment to the HSUS, but now we are specifically directing our $100,000 donation to HSUS’ Animal Rescue Team, which launch on-the-ground missions to rescue animals in peril.”

This corporate claptrap is unlikely to win back any Yellow Tail drinkers.

Yellow Tail is not the only one to feel the wrath of consumers via the social media. PETA got their nose bloodied in a very public way on Twitter. It all started when PETA tried to recruit the Zac Brown Band. PETA sent a letter asking them to consider vegan meals for their “eat and greets” and sending along a basket of protein-rich faux meats. The band recently won a Grammy for their hit song “Chicken Fried” which extols the glories of southern cuisine. The song also extols the value of living in the USA where we are free to eat fried chicken. The recruitment by PETA is not unusual; they dupe many unsuspecting celebrities into their cause each year.

What was refreshing was that the band rejected PETA’s request and furthermore rebuffed PETA using Twitter. Band leader Zac Brown sent a tweet to PETA that read, “Dear PETA - Plants are living creatures too… Bacon had a mother but so did Pickle. It takes life to support life – welcome to the planet.” To make sure they got the point, the next day he sent another, “Chicken is the new tofu.” Thousands of Twitter heads responded with derisive and often humorous condemnation of PETA.

While the animal activist groups have captured the high ground on the world wide web with flashy and elaborate webpages filled with lies and distortions, they are finding it tough going in the social media world where they cannot control the conversation and people can speak their minds. People can also see that there are a lot of people who think the way they do. HSUS likes to tell us that most people agree with them. And, while they have a considerable following, there are a lot of people who see through their rhetoric and are not afraid to call them on it. Get involved in the conversation. Get a social media account - they are free - and start raising your voice.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Gary Truitt may write to him in care of this publication.