PETA Urges Nintendo to Remove ‘Mario Kart World’ Cow’s Nose Ring

Animal-rights advocacy group PETA desires Nintendo to take away the brass nostril ring from Cow, the joyful anthropomorphic vehicle-driving character within the just lately launched top-selling sport “Mario Kart World.” Yes, actually.

PETA this week launched a marketing campaign to induce the Japanese sport maker to revamp the Cow character “without the nose ring — a painful reminder of the cruelty cows endure in the meat and dairy industries.”

“The brass ring in Cow’s nose glosses over real-world violence and cruelty to animals. That’s why we’re asking you to give this beloved bovine a small but meaningful upgrade: Remove the nose ring and let Cow race freely — without any painful reminders of the industries that treat animals like profit-making machines,” Joel Bartlett, PETA’s SVP of selling engagement, wrote in a letter addressed to Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa, which the group posted on its web site. He added, “leave the rings to Sonic and let Cow breathe free!”

Reps for Nintendo of America didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

“Mario Kart World” was launched June 5, 2025, as a launch sport for the Nintendo Switch 2. As of June 30, the corporate had offered 5.63 million copies, in response to Nintendo, making it the best-selling title for the brand new console. In the sport, 24 gamers compete in opposition to one another to see who can zoom by open-world racetracks the quickest.

Online commenters have identified that it’s doable — within the context of the “Mario Kart World” universe — that Cow selected to get the nostril ring herself. “How do they know the cow didn’t go to a body piercing place to get it? The damn thing knows how to drive so it’s not completely… ordinary,” an X consumer posted Friday in regards to the situation.

According to PETA, in a press launch about Cow’s nostril ring that stated “It’s-a mean!”, the cattle business makes use of nostril rings as a instrument of torment, not a trend accent: “Nose rings are used by the meat and dairy industries to exploit, control and even drag animals to their deaths. These brass rings are crudely stabbed through the sensitive septum of cows and bulls, which can cause lasting pain and discomfort.”

It’s not the primary time PETA has focused Nintendo. For instance, the advocacy group in 2020 criticized the game giant’s “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” for “encouraging abusive behavior toward fish and insects, where players can tear wildlife out of their homes and display them in cramped cases in a museum.”

And in 2017, PETA stated Nintendo had “sold its soul” by partnering with McDonald’s to incorporate “Super Mario” toys in Happy Meals. “Nintendo should stay in the business of selling creative video games, not cruel and unhealthy chicken nuggets,” the group stated on the time.