COVINGTON, KY - The People Against Unfair Treatment for Turkeys has announced plans for a boycott of the WKRP radio station in Cincinnati and its advertisers. "I saw that turkey fiasco on TV, dropping them from a helicopter like they were doves or something. It was disgraceful and sad. Worst of all, several of the staff were seen to actually laugh about it," lamented Gertrude Mercer, the founder of PAUTT.

Mercer is referring to the WKRP episode #7 called "Turkeys Away", in which the manager of the radio station drops live turkeys from a helicopter as a Thanksgiving promotion. The birds of course plummet to their deaths, prompting a shaken Arthur Carlson (played by the late Gordon Jump) to say, "As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.". It is the most well-known of all the WKRP episodes.

WKRP is a fictitious station invented for the television show broadcast from 1978 to 1982. The show is widely syndicated.

When faced with the fact that her boycott can have no effect since both the station and its advertisers -- most notably Red Wigglers, the Cadillac of Worms -- are fictional, Mercer replied, "At least it will raise public awareness of the plight of the turkey. These endangered creatures deserve our respect and our help. Laughing at depictions of their being hurled to their deaths is simply wrong."

In fact, turkeys are not endangered. Their numbers both in the wild and in domestication rival chickens. While many are slaughtered in preparation for the holiday, it has no appreciable affect on their overall population.

Public records show that Mercer's PAUTT group has three active members; herself, her cat "Mittens", and a person listed only as "a very nice busman".
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