Designer takes anti-fur protest to virtual world

updated 12:53 p.m. ET June 29, 2007

PARIS - Stella McCartney will co-host a virtual anti-fur protest next month in the online fantasy world known as Second Life.

The weeklong protest will begin July 12 on a dedicated island in the computer-generated alternative universe, it was announced this week by animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The island will feature stables, a lake, picnic tables and Linda McCartney mini-veggie-burger stalls.

“Sometimes it’s nice to have a bit of humor on serious subjects,” the 35-year-old British designer said in a statement.

Like her late mother, Linda, McCartney is a longtime supporter of animal rights. She doesn’t use leather or fur in her designs.

Visitors to SecondLife.com will be able to clothe their digital proxies, called avatars, in T-shirts bearing the slogan: “I’d Rather Be Pixelated Than Wear Fur.”

They can also enter a competition to come up with alternatives to PETA’s famous tag line, “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur.” The best three, judged by McCartney, will win prizes, including two tickets to her fashion show in Paris in October.

Millions of players, called residents, interact with each other in the Second Life virtual world. They can do basically anything that people can in real life, including buying and selling property, participating in group or individual activities, or socializing.

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