In a bizarre turn of events, PETA tried to use Wooloo (a sheep looking Gen VIII Pokémon) to promote its agenda, only to get roasted by Twitter fans and almost everyone else. Wooloo is a new Pokémon introduced in Nintendo’s Pokémon Sword and Shield Direct that aired last week, and became an instant hit among Pokémon fans.
This is not the first time PETA tried to use Pokémon to promote its own animal rights agenda. PETA’s promotional attempts have always been controversial, going even so far to accuse the Pokémon franchise for “virtual animal cruelty”[1]. As you may imagine, PETA’s previous attempts sparked a lot of backlash from the Pokémon fans and today’s Wooloo incident is no different.
Fans were quick to point out a few obvious problems and inconsistencies with PETA’s promotional attempt. Unlike other animals, most sheep are unable to shed. If a sheep goes too long without being shorn, a number of problems occur. The excess wool impedes the ability of sheep to regulate their body temperatures. This can cause sheep to become overheated and die.
In addition to health benefits, the only danger that sheep face during shearing is if the shearer cuts the sheep during the process. Given the technical advancements found in the Pokémon world, Nintendo’s shearers have probably partnered with the Silph Co. engineers to create the best shearing machines ever seen.
Lastly, Wooloo’s fur grows back fully in three months, even if completely shorn. As a result, Wooloo should be sheared at least every 5-6 months to keep them healthy, especially during summer season.
Wooloo is one of the earliest fan favorites from the Generation VIII games, replacing Mareep as fan favorite sheep Pokémon. Since its initial reveal, the /r/pokemon subreddit has exploded with Wooloo fan art which makes PETA’s marketing attempt look even worse.
Fan responses
As mentioned earlier, Pokémon fans were not happy with PETA’s marketing campaign, going as far as to use PETA’s original image as a template for response memes. We’ve picked a handful of responses, but please be aware that some of tweets we’ve included below contain offensive language and vulgar expressions.
— ✨hello✨ (@SilverIceBear) June 6, 2019
— 🎮 Rocktilleri 🎮 (@Rocktilleri1) June 7, 2019
https://twitter.com/Beethoven2__/status/1136804300779376640
— Flork (@FlorkOfCows) June 7, 2019
— 🐰 Renzibun 🐰 (@Renzibun) June 7, 2019
What Wooloo evolves into if you take proper care of it vs. what it evolves into if you don't shear it: pic.twitter.com/pzZhR2OWT8
— Vicious Flying Llama (@Great_Eyewarp) June 7, 2019
Freshly peeled sheeps pic.twitter.com/3rHfWoV5R7
— Emma nya ♡ (@EmmaSleepySheep) June 7, 2019