People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) teamed up with “The Smiths” and released a retro, 80’s-style video game app titled “This Beautiful Creature Must Die,” set against an arcade-version of the group’s 1985 hit song, “Meat is Murder.”
The app, which was released on Wednesday, features chickens, pigs, cows and turkeys moving towards buzz-saws of death, which players must rescue them from by clicking on them before they reach their bloody end. If an animal dies, the game is over and the message “Death for no reason” appears.
In a press release accompanying the game’s launch, The Smiths’ vegan lead singer, Morrissey, issued a press release: “This game is the biggest social crusade of all, as we safeguard the weak and helpless from violent human aggression. You don’t get that from ‘Pokémon Go.'”
Morrissey made the announcement about his dietary preferencesin 2015 on the Larry King Show, where he explained his transition from being a vegetarian to vegan. “Well, it’s just a gradual thing. Everybody begins as vegetarian. Because to dive straight forward into being completely purist is very hard for most people. Financially they can’t do it. And also you have to find food. But once you do it, it’s so much better.”
Below the game is a link to The Smiths’ original music video, “Meat is Murder,” captioned with, “Do you know how animals die?” The music video is a brutal look into slaughterhouses, and shows the gruesome manner in which animals are killed for consumption.
A message accompanying the game reads, “Thirty years ago, the Smiths sang, ‘the flesh you so fancifully fry is not succulent, tasty, or kind—it’s death for no reason, and death for no reason is murder.’ Help stop the murder by pledging to go vegan.”
Users can play the game below:
Some of the other games on the PETA website include “Super Tofu Boy,” “Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals” and “Pokemon Black & Blue”.
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz