It seems every year now PETA tries to replace Punxsutawney Phil. Last year it was a cake, this year it's this:
I'm not even joking.
This is a real quote from PETA's website:
Tupac, Elvis, and most recently, Suzanne Sommers, but could the next big name to be immortalized with a holographic avatar be…Punxsutawney Phil? In a letter PETA sent today to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's president, Tom Dunkel, PETA offers to provide a massive, state-of-the-art, 3-D projection of a groundhog — complete with vocal weather predictions — to light up the stage at Gobbler's Knob each year if Dunkel agrees to finally let Phil and his family retire to a reputable sanctuary.
And some of that letter:
Retire Phil to a reputable sanctuary with his family, and we'll provide a giant, state-of-the-art, 3-D projection hologram of a groundhog along with a vocal prognostication to light up the Gobbler's Knob stage. This update would be sure to captivate crowds, and let's face it: Phil looks better standing tall and composed in light beams than squirming in a handler's hands in captivity.
As we've pointed out before, it's time to chuck this tired tradition. Groundhogs are timid prey animals who, if they're able to, actively avoid humans. They dislike human smells, fear loud noises, abhor gatherings, and prefer to stay in their burrows.
I guess that explains this 👇
I'll give you more of that letter because it makes me chuckle.
Yet every year, this terrified little animal is subjected to loud announcers and noisy crowds and held up and waved around without any regard for his feelings, welfare, or instincts. We think Punxsutawney can do better than to brand itself with this one archaic event that exploits a wild animal. It's unimaginative and ignores the obvious: Phil feels fear and discomfort just as humans do, and he's not a willing participant in this annual spectacle. And with the hologram, the town could still make a buck out of Chuck.
This idea is so ludicrous, even Governor Josh Shapiro chimed in on this one:
Yeah, if you didn't know, Punxsutawney Phil is a bit of a legend in Pennsylvania.
I'll leave this here for your enjoyment:
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