Getting a dog is a wonderful experience, especially for a child. But with so many unadopted animals in shelters, PETA argues that buying a dog from a breeder effectively sends another shelter dog to its death — about 4 million every year. In this unsettling television ad, PETA turns the experience of buying a dog from a breeder on its head, with the breeder showing up and handing the family a dead shelter dog in a bag. 

 

This disturbing video features the voices of singer Pink and comedian Ricky Gervais as a skinless reptile and a furless bunny haggling a woman whose designer handbag and coat are made of their former body parts. The video isn’t as grisly as some PETA ads, but the message is still crystal clear: As the bunny exasperatingly asks, “What kind of a person steals a guy’s coat?” 

 

Depicting a heavyset woman in a bikini with the message “Save the Whales” splayed across the top in big bold letters no doubt prompted a wide range of reactions from people driving past this ad. A PETA message board showed that many considered the ad offensive and inaccurate, while others thought it was hilarious and drove home PETA’s overall point — that eating a vegetarian diet helps people lose weight.

  

Ever the opportunist, PETA quickly seized on the Tiger Woods sex scandal to make a statement about spaying and neutering pets. The billboard features golfer Tiger Woods with the words, “Too much sex can be a bad thing … for little tigers too.” Some people felt that PETA went too far with the ad, while others countered that it was a great play on words. We’ll let you decide, but you’ll have to settle for seeing it online since no company has yet agreed to run the billboard.

 

10. "Sugar" Shane Mosley Anti-Dogfighting television PSA 

There’s nothing more powerful than a tough guy advocating against dogfighting. In this television ad, welterweight champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley explains that as a boxer, he chooses to fight for a living, but dogs don’t have that choice. The ad features images of dogs so badly hurt that even the toughest guy may be brought to tears.