The five most attention grabbing and controversial PETA ads

In her new book, Sam Horn talks about how to get people's attention using her INTRIGUE model. For decades and even centuries,organizations and individuals have explored and researched how to best grab people's attention, and some have even developed a reputation for it. 

PETA is well known for their strong stance on animal mistreatment and abuse. To get their message out and get attention from both people and the marketplace, PETA uses controversy to grab people's attention. They have often been vilified and criticized for being too over-the-top and offensive in their tactics, but let's be honest, the ads did get attention.

Here are the five most controversial print ads PETA has run (so far) and who it upset:

1. Upsetting the Catholic Church: Getting celebrities to pose nude is nothing new, but getting Joanna Krupa to pose nude with a large cross that covers her naughty bits as she plays an "angel" who believes in adopting pets and not buying them got many church leaders upset. They felt that she was desecrating the cross by making it look like a sex object. Decide for yourself by seeing that ad here.

2. Upsetting a Nation's Government: The "Holocaust on your plate" image that was used to show how the treatment animals receive is no better than that of Jews in the various death camps -- complete with a photo showing actual prisoners opposite caged animals -- was banned in Germany. German officials deemed it to be highly offensive. You can see that ad here.

3. Upsetting the Overweight: An ad campaign that encouraged people to "save the whales" was actually referring to humans and our tendency to carry "blubber." The insinuation was that overweight people ate too much meat and should be vegetarian. Obviously, this upset enough rights groups to be removed from billboards nationwide. You can see that ad here.

4. Upsetting Medical Practitioners: An ad that suggested a strong link between cow's milk and autism was eventually removed due to the fact that studies are inconclusive on this assertion. Also, using "Got Autism?" to mock the "Got Milk?" campaign didn't go over very well with various dairy producers and organizations. You can see that ad here.

5. Upsetting Morality: PETA does not shy away from using celebrities from all walks of life including the porn world. They got adult film star Jenna Jameson to wear something spicy in a pitch for people to wear pleather instead of leather. The ad shows Jameson in some pretty enticing pleather undergarments and was banned in a number of areas. You can see that ad here. They also used overweight and not-exactly-conventionally-attractive porn star Ron Jeremy in a bid to encourage spaying and neutering (and you can see that ad here).