American actress Beatrice Arthur is appearing in a hard-hitting animal rights' advert – exactly a year after her death. Animal welfare organisation PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is using the former Golden Girls star (who died last April, aged 86) in an advert attacking fast-food chain McDonald's with the provocative headline: "McCruelty: It's enough to make Bea Arthur roll over in her grave."
The ad is to appear on the first anniversary of Arthur's death and also states: "Death couldn't stop this Golden Girl from fighting the Golden Arches' cruel slaughter practices. A long time PETA campaigner against factory-farm abuse, Bea Arthur left money to PETA in her will, and we're using it to pressure McDonald's to switch to less violent, USDA -approved chicken-slaughter method." It continues: "With this new system, millions of birds would be spared broken legs and wings and being scalded to death in defeathering tanks… But it seems that McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner is too cheap to switch to this method".
Mr. Skinner, as Bea Arthur's character Maude from 1970s US TV show All In The Family would say, 'God'll get you for that.'
-Alicia Coyle
