JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A PETA billboard urging people to "save the whales" while showing an overweight woman has created a controversy in Jacksonville.

The billboard shows the back of a woman on a beach with the words "Save the whales" followed by "Lose the blubber: Go vegetarian."

"If I were to look at it, yeah, maybe a little offensive," a passerby said.

Offensive or not, PETA's campaign is attracting attention.

"I think it's kind of bad for us people," a woman said. "I think it is bad taste. Lose the blubber. Oh my God, no."

"It's an insult," another woman added. "People who are overweight are not whales."

"It appears you are implying that overweight people are like whales," WJXT-TV reporter Scott Johnson said to a PETA representative.

"Not at all," said Ashley Byrne, of PETA. "It's just a way of grabbing people's attention. It's just a provocative way to grab attention."

PETA claimed the campaign is just a push to encourage a healthy diet without animal meat.

"People are bombarded with ads for foods that are fattening," Byrne said. "This shows that going vegetarian is the best way to beat the battle of the bulge."

Not everyone agrees.

"They're insane. They're insane," a resident said. "They care more about animals than they do people."