Organizing a demo is a piece of cake—as long as you follow the advice in this guide. We’ve broken it down on this page and on our checklist so that even a dummy can pull off a demo. That means that a star Street Teamer like you will have no problem making your demo the biggest activist event since the Million Man March.
Holding a demo can be the best thing in the world, but you’ve gotta contact us at least two weeks in advance. Just look at what we can offer if you e-mail us at peta2@peta2.com with the date, time, location, and campaign info well in advance:
• Campaign Materials: We will send you posters, leaflets, stickers, and high-quality videos for TV stations. We've also got materials in Spanish, if you need them. If you can't wait for your materials to arrive, then print your own!
• Local Media Lists and News Releases: Always, always, always contact the media if you’re holding a demo. One person at a KFC with a sign and leaflets is great, but a small story about a KFC demo in your local newspaper or on your local TV or radio station gets the message out to thousands of people—and in some towns, the media will cover the story even if you’re the only activist involved! We can send you a sample news release and a media list for your area, or we can contact the media for you if you’re still a bit shy.
• Facts and Sound Bites: Sound bites are the short sentences that you use when you’re being interviewed. They ensure that you’ll sound knowledgeable, and they help inspire people to take your demo to heart. Knowing your sound bites takes a lot of the pressure out of an interview and even makes talking to passersby easier. We can send you the sound bites that we have already written up for our demos. Practice in the mirror—or even better, with a friend—at least a week before your demo, and be sure to contact us with any questions. It’s also important that every protester at your event know the basic facts about the company or issue that you’re protesting.
• Activist E-mail Alerts: You don’t want to be the only one to show up, right? E-mail peta2@peta2.com all the info on your demo—include the date, time, and location—at least two weeks in advance, and we’ll send an alert to the Street Teamers and other PETA activists in your area.
Preparation
• Read our checklist and begin collecting the necessary items and taking the necessary steps to get started.
• Be on site at least 30 minutes before starting time. Visit the location well beforehand so that you can figure out exactly how to set things up.
• Prepare short easy-to-understand chants, and keep them going throughout the demo. E-mail peta2@peta2.com, and we’ll send you some chants that work well for us.
• Be creative! Consider eye-catching costumes and props, activists in homemade cages, or street theater. Think about what would make you stop and take notice.
• Check out these photos to get a better idea of what a demo looks like.
At the Demo
• You can have fun and be professional! Be polite to everyone. Don’t chat, smoke, wear sunglasses, slouch, or hold posters in front of your face. You’re there for animals, and a good demo can have a huge impact on peoples’ opinions.
• Keep your demo upbeat, and don’t be intimidated. One very cute and clever idea that is sure to attract attention is to have a person dressed in a chicken costume hobble on crutches (to represent how chickens raised for KFC suffer from life-long crippling) back and forth across the street in front of a KFC.
• Position yourself outside your target’s building, but don’t block the doorway or path. Stand an arm’s length apart from other activists instead of clumping together—it will make the demo look bigger. Think of what would look good in a newspaper photo.
• Write down the names and e-mail addresses of the people who attended the demonstration so that you can contact them for future actions.
• Remember that you are totally within your First Amendment rights to demonstrate, leaflet, and talk to people in front of a place of business, like KFC. Just make sure that you are standing on a public sidewalk and that you’re not blocking any doors or walkways. With the exception of the sidewalk directly in front of the store’s doors, all the surrounding sidewalks are almost sure to be public property. Keep in mind that someone taking offense to a demonstration is never a factor in the lawfulness of the demonstration—that would be discrimination on the basis of content. Don’t argue that you’re not offending people; argue that the law protects your right to demonstrate.
• Activists in the United Kingdom have it slightly different. While demos are perfectly legal, there are certain guidelines in place that need to be followed. For instance, as with U.S. activists, U.K. activists should never block their target’s doorway or the pavement. To learn more about general legal advice for activists in the U.K., click here.
• One more thing … have fun!
After the Demo
• As a Street Teamer, you'll receive 500 points for attending a demo and 3,000 if you organized it (but only if you've contacted and worked with us ahead of time). Use our online submission form to tell us about your adventure.
• Whether you get media attention or not, after your event, write a letter to your local newspaper about the demo and your participation in the corresponding campaign. If the media covered your event, refer to the story. If not, just talk about what you did and why. The newspaper is likely to print your letter, even it wasn’t an event that the newspaper covered. Please read PETA’s “Guide to Letter-Writing”. We’ll give you Street Team points if you send us a copy of the letter that you wrote—and even more if it gets published.
• If you (or any of the other participants) are a student, try to get the school newspaper to write about the campaign or submit a story to the newspaper yourself.
• Send an e-mail message to everyone who attended the demo, thanking them for helping out.
• Watch the news and check the paper. You may become a local celebrity!
