Social media is going bananas.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) raised eyebrows after releasing a sexually charged video that suggests going vegan will improve people’s sex lives. A Twitter clip of the provocative PSA boasts more than 2 million views.
“Can’t put your finger on what’s not working in the bedroom?” reads the caption to the steamy clip, which was uploaded Tuesday.
The titillating footage depicts fingers stroking the insides of various types of fruits and vegetables as if they were in porn produced by, say, Fresh Direct. Accompanying captions explain how each food will makes consumers a demon in the sack.
“Want to spice things up in the bedroom?” asks one caption as someone’s index and middle fingers massage the inside of a kiwi fruit that has been cut in half. “Chili peppers will have you hot and heavy in no time,” reads another one, which overlays a clip of someone running their fingers seductively along the inside flesh of the spicy pod. Yet another frame shows a hand massaging half an orange and then crushing it into juice, explaining that “a squirt of OJ can increase blood flow to important organs.” (Wink, wink!)
No Cialis, no problem? Strawberries contain libido-boosting zinc, the video states, while avocados — a study-proven aphrodisiac — will “give you the stamina to keep going for hours,” per the sexplainer.
The crop-aganda clip concludes with someone’s hand massaging a cantaloupe half and, finally, a woman’s tongue seductively licking red juice running down her hand. Both scenes are emblazoned with a singular message: “Go vegan — your partner will thank you.”
Needless to say, social media naysayers thought the vid’s creators were a few fruit short of a full basket.
“What tf yall fingering fruits for????” tweeted one aghast commenter of the racy clip, to which another replied, “they cant legally finger animals so they go to the next closest thing.”
“Stop sexually assaulting these innocent plants,” fumed another flabbergasted gawker.
Another steak stalwart cited PETA’s infamous ad campaign in which they claimed that drinking milk can cause autism.
One horrified parent spluttered, “What the heck? My young daughter follows you. Why are you tweeting stuff like this?”
PETA even doubled down on the NSFW imagery by reposting a risqué pro-plant advert juxtaposing an allegedly carnivorous couple failing at sex against a supposedly vegan pair slaying it in the bedroom.
“Last Longer. Go vegan,” reads the tagline.
While that presentation might ring a tad inappropriate to some, the veggie-violating video is somewhat rooted in science.
A 2020 survey of 1000 people — 500 vegetarians and 500 meat-eaters—- found that 84 percent of vegetarians reported satisfaction with their sex lives, compared to only 59 percent of their carnivorous counterparts, Forbes reported. Meanwhile, 95 percent of the vegan participants claimed they were happy with their hanky-panky sessions.
In addition, the more meat one eats, the shorter their erections last, at least according to a sexperiment showcased in Netflix’s “The Game Changers.”
“Being vegan involves eating plenty of whole foods, and fresh fruits and vegetables,” sex and relationship expert Kim Anami told Bustle in 2019. “[This] keeps blood flow, including hormone movement, going.”
Conversely, some experts feel that going fully plant-based can have a detrimental effect on one’s sexual prowess.
“Veganism [can] potentially impact people’s sex life in that in the body’s sex hormones are produced from cholesterol,” Paul Chek, founder of the CHEK Institute and author of “How To Eat, Move & Be Healthy!,” told Bustle. According to experts, the human body produces only 75% of the cholesterol it needs, and the rest can be obtained through animal products.
And while most people can survive on plants alone, Chek said that certain systems will be compromised.
“Since reproduction is a lower priority than faculties that allow us to survive ‘in the moment,’ such as fight or flight hormones, blood sugar hormones and fluid regulation hormones, the result is that sex hormone production is sacrificed to maintain function in the other body systems,” he said.
As such, some health gurus suggest that maintaining a balanced diet is key to boosting one’s performance in the boudoir.
“You don’t have to be a vegan,” registered dietitian Bonnie Taub-Dix, creator of BetterThanDieting.com, told Insider. “Even going from a diet that is very animal product-heavy to one that is more plant-forward would be a good idea.”
This isn’t the first time PETA has been accused of kookery.
In January, the organization was trolled over an initiative in which they demanded that people stop using “speciesist” terms such as “chicken,” “pig” or “rat” as insults for humans.
