Nintendo responds to PETA Mario pro-fur claim

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 15 November, 2011

Transformations make Mario "fun to play".

Nintendo has responded to animal rights group PETA's attack on Super Mario 3D Land, saying the Italian plumber's animal-based transformations are "lighthearted and whimsical".

Yesterday PETA launched its Mario Kills Tanooki campaign, claiming the Nintendo mascot's famed Tanooki suit power-up sends out a message that it's okay to wear real animal fur.

"When on a mission to rescue the princess, Mario has been known to use any means necessary to defeat his enemy - even wearing the skin of a raccoon dog to give him special powers," reads a post on its website.

"Tanooki may be just a 'suit' in Mario games, but in real life, tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur. By wearing Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it's OK to wear fur."

PETA even launched its own Flash-based platformer called Super Tanooki Skin 2D, in which you play as a skinless raccoon trying to chase down Mario and retrieve its hide.

Now Nintendo has had its say.

"Mario often takes the appearance of certain animals and objects in his games," a spokesperson told Eurogamer.

"These have included a frog, a penguin, a balloon and even a metallic version of himself. These lighthearted and whimsical transformations give Mario different abilities and make his games fun to play.

"The different forms that Mario takes make no statement beyond the games themselves."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (60) Latest comment 6 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Mr_V #1 6 months ago

    OK, Nintendo, you've got to learn not to feed the trolls!

  • AndyboyH #2 6 months ago

    PETA obviously don't care about Penguins or Frogs. ;)

  • J0rdan_KZ #3 6 months ago

    PETA aren't about rights of animals any more. They're a collective bunch of idiots who enjoy pulling publicity stunts for their own egos. Fucking tools. Nothing more, nothing less.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #4 6 months ago

    What a boring response. Not that the PETA accusation actually deserved one but I was secretly hoping for a slight PETA bashing, or no comment at all. "They make games fun to play" and "he has always done that" are a bit silly explanations.

  • Mister-Wario #5 6 months ago

    Well, duh. I think that's pretty much all we can say.

    Expecting a Mario game to make some profound statement on anything is pretty naive.

  • Nico4 #6 6 months ago

    Your not helping your own case, Nintendo... Though PETA are a bunch of morons, at times

  • MrE26 #7 6 months ago

    I despise animal cruelty, but PETA are batshit insane.

  • -cerberus- #8 6 months ago

    @J0rdan_KZ: Agreed. Support the ALF instead!

  • Cjail #9 6 months ago

    My mother always told me: "Don't accept candies from a stranger, and don't replicate to brainless people!"

  • mr_pink #10 6 months ago

    Did they not notice that he also jumps on tortoises a bit? (That's right, tortoises, not turtles dammit).

  • varsas #11 6 months ago

    It is an odd response; emphasising the fact he becomes the creature to a degree would have been better i.e. he's not 'wearing a suit'.

  • FireMonkey #12 6 months ago

    @varsas - But he is wearing a suit, created by Tanooki.

    (From http://www.mariowiki.com/Tanooki_Suit)

    "The Tanooki Suit was prominently featured in a Nintendo Comics System story titled "Tanooki Suits Me"; according to this story, the suit was one of many magical suits made by a tailor named Tanooki whose trademark was to sew a tail on the back of each one. It is revealed in this comic that Mario turns into a statue by pressing a button on the front of the suit, and changes back by wishing to return to human form."

  • wizlon #13 6 months ago

    Peta, have you seen that awful documentary where a cat is trying to catch and eat a mouse using any cruel and torturous means necessary, it's called Tom and Jerry or something, ban that sick filth!

  • Zozzilla #14 6 months ago

    They should sue PETA for defamation.

  • Spooke #15 6 months ago

    I wouldn't have even legitimised them by writing the article. PETA are pathetic and don't warrant the publicity.

  • abigsmurf #16 6 months ago

    Ah PETA, such a noble organisation. They care so much about animals that they kill 85% of the animals they take in, regardless of whether they're healthy and capable of being re-homed or not.

  • dennett316 #17 6 months ago

    PETA are scum, plain and simple. Their activists will often threaten, coerce and physically harm fellow humans, all the while they allow healthy animals to be put to sleep - as it's the right thing to do due to the sheer number of them that cannot be rehoused - but they don't publicise that. Instead they take something as stupid as this and make an issue out of it....self-obsessed, self promoting scum without the courage of their convictions.
    Hell, a former higher up in their organisation willingly took life saving medication that existed due to animal testing, and tried to claim she wasn't a hypocrite because she'd do more good for animals alive than dead. I understand she didn't want to die, but she couldn't even admit THEN that she was wrong. Despicable bunch.

  • StolenGlory #18 6 months ago

    I mean, who really thinks like that? "Oh, Mario is wearing a racoon suit. He must have BRUTALLY MURDERED ONE AND IS NOW WEARING IT'S SKIN" I always thought it was a onesie.

    Perhaps if they did a Super Mario Bros: THE THING, edition. I could understand it then and it would actually be quite cool - especially since at the end of each level, Mario would rupture and explode into this myriad flesh dripping beast, depicting all the forms that he had consumed during his course of that level. "TANOOKI.... IT'S THE WARMEST PLACE TO HIDE."

  • ghearoid #19 6 months ago

    PETA are just a bunch of bully cunts. I'm vegetarian and very pro-animal but their behaviour is appalling. Just shameless publicity seeking trolls.

  • superbeast2010 #20 6 months ago

    Post deleted at 10:57:39 01-02-2012

  • electrolite #21 6 months ago

    Nintendo marketing department responds to PETA : "Thanks very much!"

  • Optyk #22 6 months ago

    All Ninentdo had to say was that it was fake fur ¬_¬

  • elephant_stone #23 6 months ago

    What the fuck! WHAT THE FUCK! Its a cartoon!

    oh buy the way PETA, I stabbed a rat this morning during my Battlefield 3 playthrough...

    Even that sounds stupid - I cant belive I am saying this crap!

  • steadynedy #24 6 months ago

    There were stills from undercover footage in a national newspaper of these animals actually being skinned alive, and while it was absolutely sickening, PETA are trolling and know what they are doing.
    This will get a reaction, which is what they want.
    Edited by steadynedy at 15/11/11 @ 11:49

  • benfresh76 #25 6 months ago

    They shouldn't have dignified it with a response IMHO.

  • arremelle #26 6 months ago

    to think that anyone would play super mario and be inspired to purchase a fur coat is absurd. This is just an attempt to get some profile of the back of an excellent game that would no doubt be highly popular.

    I have managed to kill no end of animals in games like Elder Scrolls (Rats, Deer, Wolves) , did they also complain about that?

  • chrisjm #27 6 months ago

    the same PETA that kills real cats?

  • IkariW #28 6 months ago

    "These have included a frog, a penguin, a balloon and even a metallic version of himself. These lighthearted and whimsical transformations give Mario different abilities and make his games fun to play.

    The key word here PETA is GAMES, for the sake of all that is just in the world, f**king grow up... Whats next?! Tails having two tails is making a negative statement about people contaminating the planet?!
    Besides, Marios been doing this for years! I think we can deal with it... as I've posted before, how come Red Dead dodged the PETA Sh!t ball rolling over it? :)

  • Chompee #29 6 months ago

    Just nobody mention Starfox 3DS. Animals blasting the crap out of each other in space? They'd have a field day...

  • manuel_garcia #30 6 months ago

    What angers me more than anything about PETA's idiocy is that it reflects negatively on everybody that's a vegetarian or remotely perceived as being pro-animal rights.

    They're a bunch of PR-baiting tools, and I hope I speak for the majority of us non-meat eaters when I say they can fuck right off.

  • Toothball #31 6 months ago

    Oh nice, I just saw their other shot at publicity. Apparently they're now harassing Prince Harry because he had a pizza with meat on it - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/15/harry_peta/

    I do hope that the Palace doesn't dignify them with a response to this one.

  • winter #32 6 months ago

    trans-fur-mations make mario fun to play :)

    i'll get me coat....

  • septimus #33 6 months ago

    Other than fuck off, why did Nintendo dignify them with a response?

  • knocker #34 6 months ago

    Anyone who's played Animal Crossing and crossed swords with that bastard money lender nook probably will agree with me that Tanooki's deserve all they get.


    (it pains me to add this disclaimer, but EG being what it is, I'm not really in favour of skinning animals alive or wearing fur)

  • matty_matt_mattmatt #35 6 months ago

    oh PETA u soo lame, we love animals, stop trying to make us hate them because we hate u

  • tankboi #36 6 months ago

    Sometimes I hate the internet.

  • tankboi #37 6 months ago

    Kotaku have done a proper article worthy of a read. I suggest you head there for some PETA bashing.

  • madmaardigan #38 6 months ago

    I can't help feeling this is all a big, silly joke, and those mischievous scamps at PETA are getting top lulz reading forums like this one.

  • vanian #39 6 months ago

    Description_here

  • Pacmaninov #40 6 months ago

    Oxygen of publicity

  • funkateer #41 6 months ago

    We all know Mario is pro-fur.
    I mean let's face it, he has a 70s moustache and even looks a bit like Ron Jeremy.

  • Hxy3000 #42 6 months ago

    PETA, show on the Tanooki where the bad man touched you.

  • kinky_mong #43 6 months ago

    Take them to the fucking cleaners Ninty.

  • andywilkie35 #44 6 months ago

    Fuck of PETA you clueless pinko cunts

  • acousticwilliam #45 6 months ago

    It's B.S! They should target Sega for abusing Ecco the dolphin - forced time travel. Poor thing.

    On a side note, The tanooki suit changes Mario's DNA to take on racoon-like properties (like floating and spin attacking), therefor, Mario IS a tanooki. He doesn't kill or skin any.

    Logic people, logic!

  • ZiL #46 6 months ago

    Did they give a s**t about Angry Birds?

  • darkmorgado #47 6 months ago

    @-cerberus- Support the ALF? The terrorist organisation that firebombs buildings (often killing animals in the process), threatens the lives of children, and is actually partially funded by PETA?

  • Lamb #48 6 months ago

    PETA has clearly got it wrong its Wario not Mario savaging Tanooki's. :D

    Also have you heard about Halloween, the Necromancers Alliance is up in arms with "the living dead".

  • killyourtv #49 6 months ago

    petakillsanimals.com

  • -cerberus- #50 6 months ago

    @darkmorgado: Terrorists... Lol. Are you American? Either way, I see you have done some excellent word-of-mouth research!

  • Deeeev #51 6 months ago

    Damn, not so keen on my "Terry The Taxerdermist" 3DS game idea now...

  • mattrix33 #52 6 months ago

    Is this for real...I'm so angry I could club a seal!

  • digitalash #53 6 months ago

    As a vegetarian, I can promise you, we're not all kerr-razy like PETA, an attention seeking, silly, inconsistent organisation.

    Perhaps these column inches would be better devoted to the appalling environmental record Nintendo has, even compared to the not-exactly-whiter-than-white MS or Sony? As a Nintendo fan, I find it really troubling that a game like, say, Zelda, which was intended as a celebration of exploring the natural world (I'm not making this up, btw http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda#Inspiration) has to be played on such planet-damaging hardware.

  • Gimpy_Wonderland #54 6 months ago

    Well clearly Nintendo missed the point. No-one is killing penguins and frogs for clothing, but in real life, tanuki dogs are being skinned. Not saying I agree with PETA, but still, they have a point.

  • Nukemasta #55 6 months ago

    It also glorifies magic mushrooms and kicking turtles.....Peta are idiots

  • Raiko101 #56 6 months ago

    It also suggests that plumbers have a glamorous and exciting lifestyle and I for one will not stand for it!

  • metroid455 #57 6 months ago

    seriously their going after Nintendo now? ,caring about animals rights my foot,
    Nintendo would never condone animal cruelty PETA should push off and go do their jobs properly for once, geez

  • Rodster #58 6 months ago

    I hope PETA doesn't find out I typed this while wearing me fur coat. :)

  • KanePaws #59 6 months ago

    PETA: you're really doing it wrong when a vegan can't manage to get behind your anti-fur message. >_<

    That said, I can't believe that Nintendo goes out of their way to make it clear that Mario peels the bloody skin from whimpering tanuki just to make his idiotic suit. Oh, what's that, he touches a floating leaf and pops into the suit by magic? Hm...

    I mean, when we come down to it, Mario's suit can easily be faux fur - we all know that there's abundant evidence to support the claim that he's a compassionate, Italian furry, anyway.

  • teevid #60 6 months ago

    This makes so much sense. PETA is right! Every child will be lining up in front of fur stores this holiday season demanding the latest fur. It will be the top item on all Tweens list. Santa will only hear kids begging for fur under their Christmas trees. Video Game stores will start exclusive fur lines. Microsoft will bring out a Halo suit made of fur! It will be the biggest trend in schools in 2012! Thanks PETA! Glad you stopped Nintendo's "insanity."