Jackson Free Press

"Want to cheat on your husband?" The 10-foot-high People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals billboard (featuring Fabio in a muscle shirt) is trying to say something different than it might seem at first glance. According to the PETA Web site (http://www.goveg.com), the idea is to get women to serve fake meats at dinner, and not tell their men.

Not everyone appreciate's PETA's sensationalist methods. The billboard, at 1667 Lakeland Drive, has been run out of conservative towns like Colorado Springs, Colo., and Montgomery, Ala., and it could be on its way out of Jackson. City of Jackson spokesman Chris Mims said his office received thousands of e-mails right after the board went up. "I had not seen it, so I drove over there and took a picture. I really thought people were overreacting," he said. The organization "One Million Dads" and local churches have already been contacting media representatives, according to the PETA Web site, under the false assumption that the boards are endorsing adultery.

At the Nov. 26 City Council meeting, Ward 1 Councilman Ben Allen reacted, saying the city should keepa close eye on such billboards. The city attorney's office said it would investigate the matter. It did not return phone calls before press time.

PETA maintains it's trying to save the married lives of the men who are so offended by the billboard. One quarter of all men are impotent by age 60, PETA says, blaming it on high cholesterol clogging all your arteries, not just the ones going to your heart. The group says it would like to spice up existing relationships by serving "mock meat" at the dinner table, in turn increasing sex drives and, following the logic, lessening a woman's desire to cheat on her husband. PETA offers an info hotline: 939-NEW-MEAT.

— J. Bingo Holman