PETA Milks Controversy Over Nintendo’s Beloved New Mario Kart Cow Character

While Nintendo fans are busy racing their new favorite cow character around rainbow-colored tracks, PETA has decided the real problem with Mario Kart World is a tiny brass nose ring. The animal rights organization sent an open letter to Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa in August 2025, demanding the company redesign its breakout character from the Nintendo Switch 2 launch.

PETA targets Nintendo’s beloved racing cow over a brass nose ring while fans just want to play Mario Kart World.

The scooter-riding cow, based on the classic Moo Moo Meadows cows from earlier Mario games, became an instant hit when the game dropped in June. Social media loves this character. Nintendo fans can’t get enough.

But PETA sees that brass nose ring and thinks exploitation, pain, and dairy industry control tactics. Their argument goes like this: nose rings equal animal cruelty, and putting one on a cartoon cow glamorizes real-world animal abuse. They’re calling it a contradiction to the game’s whimsical tone. PETA SVP Joel Bartlett explicitly stated that real-life cows suffer from similar practices, reinforcing the organization’s position on the character design.

The organization wants what they call a “meaningful upgrade” to the character design, claiming the nose ring undermines empathy and normalizes cruelty toward animals. With 10 million members and supporters worldwide, PETA has significant reach for these campaigns. Their youth division, Peta2, jumped in too, rallying young followers to pressure Nintendo into making changes.

This isn’t PETA’s first rodeo with Nintendo. They’ve been at this since the late 2000s, targeting everything from Animal Crossing to Pokémon to Legend of Zelda. Sometimes they make satirical games. Sometimes they write open letters.

Gaming journalists and communities usually find these campaigns silly or overreaching. This time seems no different. Nintendo hasn’t said a word about it. Not a single comment as of August 2025.

The cow remains unchanged, nose ring intact, still racing around those tracks while fans continue buying the game and loving the character. Media outlets covered the story, sure, but mostly as another example of PETA doing what PETA does—applying pressure to entertainment companies over animal symbolism.

The whole thing highlights an ongoing tension between advocacy groups and the gaming industry. PETA sees an opportunity to make a point about animal treatment. Nintendo sees a popular character that sells games. Fans see a cute cow on a scooter.

The nose ring stays, for now.