PETA wants to swap out the world’s most famous groundhog for a dazzling, high-tech hologram.
Each year, the world’s largest animal rights organization urges the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club to retire the animal due to concerns about its welfare.
In a letter to club president Tom Dunkel, PETA offered to supply a lifelike 3-D projection of a groundhog, complete with a dramatic weather prediction, to electrify the Gobbler’s Knob stage this year.
The letter read in part:
“Here we are again! It’s People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 10.4 million members and supporters globally, including many thousands in Pennsylvania—with a new offer to give Groundhog Day a much-needed glow-up: Retire Phil to a reputable sanctuary with his family, and we’ll provide a giant, state-of-the-art, 3-D projection hologram of a groundhog along with a vocal prognostication to light up the Gobbler’s Knob stage. This update would be sure to captivate crowds, and let’s face it: Phil looks better standing tall and composed in light beams than squirming in a handler’s hands in captivity.”
PETA said they hope this proposal will finally let Phil and his family retire.
“Pixelated popstars are headlining concerts and long departed celebrities are attending conventions, so why not put that technology to good use: on a hologram that lets the real Phil hibernate in peace,” PETA Founder Ingrid Newkirk said in a news release. “PETA is urging the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club to chuck its tired tradition of harassing a shy animal and give Gobbler’s Knob a glow-up with a phantom prognosticator.”
It is not clear at this time if anyone with the Groundhog Club has responded to the request.
Groundhog Day is a popular tradition in the U.S. and Canada on February 2, where people look to a groundhog emerging from its burrow to forecast the end of winter
If the groundhog sees its shadow, it means six more weeks of winter, but if it doesn’t, spring will come early.
It’s important to note that Groundhog Day predictions are generally not accurate.
Now, do you think a hologram could replace Punxsutawney Phil?
