Miss USA winners get naked for PETA

Gotta hand it to PETA.

What a stroke of marketing genius to release its newest anti-fur campaign, featuring four naked Miss USAs, just days before the Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas on Sunday.

In the ad, Susie Castillo (Miss USA 2003), Shandi Finnessey (2004), Shanna Moakler (1995) and Alyssa Campanella (2011) are posing naked poolside with a Miss USA sash and crown.

The caption reads: “Feel Beautiful in Your Own Skin, and Let Animals Keep Theirs.”

“The more I learned of the torture that animals go through in the name of fashion, I just think its so unnecessary,” Castillo says in a video released with the ad. “It's unbelievable actually.”

The women have joined with PETA to urge the pageant industry to adopt a fur-free policy. Some state pageants apparently still give fur coats as prizes.

“As long as I’m the director of Miss Nevada, we will never award fur coats as prizes, and I urge my fellow pageant directors to make the same pledge,” Moakler said in a statement.

“Kind people today are taking a stand against cruelty to animals—so a fur coat is no prize for a compassionate, socially-aware woman.”

The Miss USA pageant airs at 8 p.m. Sunday on NBC. Staci Klinginsmith of Lenexa will compete as Miss Kansas.

This story was originally published June 14, 2013 at 12:08 PM with the headline "Miss USA winners get naked for PETA."