The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, known as PETA, has purchased advertising space at the Portland International Jetport. PMW is the state’s largest airport, which welcomed 1.7M travelers in 2021.
PETA’s most recent billboard takes aim at one of Maine’s biggest industries, commercial fishing. The billboard states “Save the Whales: Don’t Eat Fish”. This new appeal, according to PETA, is to remind vacationers that fishing gear as a whole kills 300,000 whales and dolphins annually.
This is not the first attempt by PETA to deter vacationers from indulging in Maine’s $140M fishing industry. In 2018, PETA advertised just outside the Jetport’s arrival doors, in protest to Linda Bean’s Maine Lobster Cafe. Their marketing campaign coincided with Rockland’s annual Maine Lobster Festival, which hosted 30,000+ visitors in 2018.
In an article published by the Press Herald in 2018, Jessica Grondin, a spokeswoman for the city of Portland, indicated the jetport ads are sold by Clear Channel, an independent advertising company. While ads are sent for approval to the Jetport, their position on PETA’s marketing was that it fell under the First Amendment and would not be rejected.