With New Billboard, PETA Asks Critics: 'Why So Crabby?'

The food fight continues between PETA and crab connoisseurs.

It was PETA who fired the first shot last month, with billboards strategically placed near Baltimore seafood restaurants urging diners to spare the iconic crustaceans. The original billboards showed a crab saying, "I'm ME, Not MEAT."

Troy Johnson talks to Ashley Byrne, associate director of campaigns for PETA:

The move set off a bushel of controversy, with the loudest criticism coming from Jimmy's Famous Seafood, who bankrolled billboards of its own.

The new PETA billboard asks critics, "Why so crabby?" with a claim that going vegan is as good for you as it is for the animal kingdom. In a release, PETA said vegan foods are free of mercury, lead and other toxins you may find in seafood. A vegan diet can also carry a lowered risk of heart diabetes, diabetes, strokes and cancer.

"PETA's suggestion that crabs could be treated with kindness, not Old Bay seasoning, got some people all steamed up," PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement. "With so many delicious fishless fillets and crab-free cakes available these days, lots of diners are leaving sea animals off their plates and letting them live unmolested in their aquatic homes."

If they have you sold or if you were already considering going vegan, PETA offers free vegan starter kits and a recipe for Old Bay Tofu Cakes.