At a recent protest outside KFC in Causeway Bay, Christina Cho painted herself gray and lay naked in a coffin covered only by a banner that read, “KFC: You’re killing us chicks.” Swamped by photographers and passersby, the police ended the protest after only a half-hour by threatening to arrest Cho. We caught up with her just before the bust.
HK Magazine: Why are you protesting?
Christina Cho: I want KFC to adopt animal-welfare guidelines - it’s as simple as that. We are asking KFC to eliminate the evil, egregious practices PETA has found in its slaughterhouses. Chicks are stomped on, chickens have their beaks cut off or heads torn off, they’re sometimes boiled alive. It’s all incredibly cruel. More than 850 million chickens are killed in the cruelest imaginable way each year, yet KFC refuses to do anything to eliminate the worst abuses these animals suffer. To me, showing a bit of skin to save the lives of these chickens is nothing.
HK: Are there any downsides to being an activist?
CC: My teeth look orange with this gray body paint. Aside from that, I’ve gotten arrested more times than I can remember. I just got back from Fashion Week in Milan and Paris. I was arrested for jumping onto the catwalk at the Dolce & Gabbana show. But seriously, spending a few hours or even a few nights in jail is nothing compared with the lives animals suffer in cages. A night in a freezing jail cell with nothing but a metal grate to sleep on really helps me relate to an animal’s fate. You don’t get fed because you’re vegan. It’s uncomfortable in every single way, but it makes me think of the animals that spend weeks, months or even years in the same situation.
HK: What do your parents think about this?
CC: My parents are umm… caring people. They’re just a little different because they were born and raised in Korea. I’m simply sticking up for animals that can’t stick up for themselves.
HK: Do you have a day job?
CC: Yes. I’m a musician. I play the piano in the studio. It’s not a nine-to-five though. But then, most musicians don’t play nine-to-five. Life as an activist is more hectic. PETA is a grassroots organization. When I travel around, I carry my own materials and supplies. Yesterday was spent sourcing the cheapest flowers possible, scoping out the demo site, notifying the media and so on. It really is constant madness.
HK: Do you eat meat?
CC: No. If you won’t eat your dog or cat, then why would you eat a steak or chicken? I became a vegetarian when I was 14. But I love eating. I’m telling you, for any meat out there, there’s a substitute that tastes so much better. Just the look and smell of meat is disgusting. Think about all the diseases you can catch from meat: salmonella, E. coli, mad cow… I love ribs, chicken and buffalo wings - the faux ones, obviously. Fake salmon, fake sushi and fake baby-back ribs are great. It’s the suffering I’m opposed to, not the flavor.