It’s been 21 years since Lisa Simpson brought gazpacho to a barbecue. Now, a Care2 petition is trying to rally the troops to convince writers to evolve her in to a full-fledged vegan.
Salon reports that Matt Hanson, a vegan and Simpson’s super fan, has already gathered over 20,000 signatures on an online petition to have her make the switch (21,343 at time of publishing). “The Simpsons gets millions of viewers every episode, so it single handedly influences the cultural awareness of it’s day,” Matt Hanson explains in the petition. With 27 seasons under it’s belt, it’s clear that the motive is to use the cartoon platform for reach. If writers can come up with something half as memorable as The Simpsons family chanting “you don’t win friends with salad,” there’s a chance they can help veganism become as catchy.
The Simpsons have touched on veganism before in an episode called “Lisa The Treehugger” in 2000, famously coining the term “vegan level five” as someone who never eats anything that casts a shadow. This tongue-in-cheek definition is hilariously used around vegan circles to talk about those who go above and beyond in refusing to compromise their morals. Lisa considers going vegan then to impress another vegan, but doesn’t follow through.
With Paul and Linda McCarthy famously helping Lisa see the horror of eating meat originally in “Lisa The Vegetarian”, we can’t help but wonder what vegan celebrity might come out of the woodwork to further explain animal exploitation. Hopefully, the little sheep that once cried “don’t eat me Lisa” can return with “don’t wear me Lisa.”
Check out this hilarious spoof of meat marketing from the “Lisa The Vegetarian Episode.”
Photo from Salon
