The Meatrix

The website for The Meatrix the popular flash animation spoof about the evils of factory farming, has won the 2005 Webby Award for best website for a charitable or nonprofit organization.

Called the "Oscars of the Internet," the Webby is the leading international award honoring excellence in web design, creativity, usability and functionality and is given annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

"With The Meatrix, we engaged the public through entertainment and pop culture humor, and wove it through a visually exciting and educational website," said Alice Slater, President of GRACE (Global Resource Action Center for the Environment), the group behind the internet film.

"It is a tremendous honor that others have recognized how innovative our approach has been to raising public awareness about the devastating effects of factory farms."

Since its debut in late 2003, over 7 million people have viewed the spoof of the popular Matrix films featuring a trenchcoat-clad cow named 'Moopheus' who reveals the ugly truth about modern factory farming to a pig named 'Leo.'

Viewers learn how massive industrial feedlots pollute the environment, abuse animals and workers and are trying to replace traditional family farms as the leading producers of meat around the world.