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SYDNEY - Celebrities Sir Paul McCartney, Pamela Anderson and Pink support animal welfare group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and now the group wants Australia's super-star housewife Dame Edna Everage.
In Australia to create awareness of the US-based group, PETA's vice-president Dan Mathews says flamboyant Everage, portrayed by comedian Barry Humphries, is their latest target.
While in Australia, Mathews hopes to lure Everage for a campaign entitled Fur Is A Drag - a runway parody of a fashion show, with drag queens wearing furs and accessories including traps and slogans.
Everage would act as commentator.
"PETA likes to do public events ... with a bit of irony and a bit of a sense of humour," said Mathews in Sydney today.
"We have done these shows in New York and London, and it was such a sensation. The campaign is about shaping new incarnations and we would love to do a catwalk parody with Dame Edna making fun of the models. It would be perfect."
Mathews said the international star was yet to accept his offer and admitted that without the help of celebrities the non-profit organisation would flounder.
Australian personalities who have supported PETA policies include singers Missy Higgins, Jimmy Barnes, Natalie Imbruglia and her husband, Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns.
"One of the ways PETA has put things on the pop culture radar, especially for young consumers, is getting celebrities involved ... It's now central in the world we live in," Mathews said.
PETA created headlines in December when US rock star Pink withdraw her support for the group's campaign against sheep mulesing.
Mathews said he felt bad about criticism Pink received after appearing in a gory video condemning the trade.
"We are certainly sorry about the way she was targeted (by the Australian wool industry)," Mathews said.
"But she has not backed down ... she has not asked us to take the video down she believes in what we are doing."
In the video, Pink called on fans worldwide to boycott Australian wool products as she spoke out against mulesing - a practice in which farmers cut skin from around a sheep's tail to prevent potentially deadly fly strike.
She retracted her comments last month following a wool industry and political outcry in Australia, saying she was not told of plans to phase out mulesing by 2010.
"She never did a backflip, she just wasn't prepared, especially with her up-coming tour, to get behind a boycott of the entire Australian wool industry," Mathews said.
"Pink appreciates PETA because we are cutting edge, we don't look in the other direction, we jump up and down and do anything to get people's attention to cause enough pressure to stop it."
- AAP
