We had to laugh when we saw that the misnamed “Physicians Committee” for “Responsible Medicine” (yes, it’s deserving of all the scare quotes) put up a billboard in Wisconsin featuring the Grim Reaper wearing a cheesehead. The obvious message is that the Dairy State’s most notable and tastiest food product is a secret killer.

Gee, a provocative billboard meant to beat people over the head with the vegan agenda? Where have we seen that before?

That’s right—People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, of course.

And that’s the joke: PCRM is really nothing more than PETA’s lab-coated sibling. PCRM president Neal Barnard is a former science advisor for PETA and used to run the PETA Foundation (now the Foundation to Support Animal Protection).

As for whether this doctors' group really has any doctors as members, less than 10 percent of the “physicians committee” graduated from medical school. Most of its money comes from a single wealthy animal-rights activist in Florida. And Barnard has called cheese “dairy crack” and “the purest form of the [milk] drug.” He also writes, “to give a child animal products is a form of child abuse.”

Um…right.

The fun didn’t last too long for PCRM, as the company that owns the rights to cheesehead hats threatened legal action and PCRM quickly changed the billboard. PCRM got some media attention, but will such a silly tactic change minds?

We’d wager that it’ll have the same effect as a PETA campaign—between zero and none. Frankly, we wouldn’t be surprised if Wisconsinites react by chowing down on an extra helping of nachos during this week’s Packers game.