Horrifying Christmas advert faces backlash over bloody gore

It's that time of year again when all of the biggest companies rally and treat us to a whole bunch of sometimes weird but, most of the time, wonderful Christmas adverts.

We've already had our heartstrings pulled by the brand-new John Lewis ad, gushed over Joe Wilkinson and Keira Knightley's mini rom-com that is this year's Waitrose Xmas advert and, of course, there was the controversy surrounding Coca-Cola's take on the annual tradition.

But now PETA UK has released their Christmas advert, and it's already sparked quite the outrage online, with many rushing to social media to call out the animal rights organisation for the shocking video.

Now the video in question, which is just under a minute long, shows several family members sitting down for their Christmas meal while making small talk on various subjects like what TV programmes they're watching at the moment, motorway traffic and home renovations. Take a look:

However, when they cut into their food, bright red blood sprays out at them, covering their faces, the dinner table and eventually the rest of the room.

Just as all the guests are absolutely drenched in the fake blood, the head of the table raises a toast, telling the group: "Everyone, we survived another Christmas!"

The video then ends with overlay text reading: "This Christmas, over 180 million animals will be slaughtered in the UK," while the guests cheer and tell each other 'Happy Christmas'.

The text 'Happy Christmassacre' then springs up before PETA's logo and 'go vegan' slogan.

PETA's 'Christmassacre' advert was released earlier this month (PETA)

The campaign for PETA, which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is reportedly set to run in cinemas throughout December.

It didn't take long for the carnivore crew to come out in their masses, mocking the animal rights organisation with many comments echoing this one made by an X user: "I'm gonna eat so much meat this year all your posts will be in vain."

A second called the whole thing 'terrible' while a third simply piped up: "This is dumb."

Meat-eaters were left up in arms over the animal rights organisation's message (PETA)

And a final critic sarcastically quipped: "I hate it when the blood gets into my eye, so annoying."

PETA assured that all of the food featured in the video was vegan to show that 'there’s an animal-friendly version of everything these days'.

PETA vice president of programmes Elisa Allen added in a statement: "Behind every trussed-up turkey, holiday ham, or beef wellington was an individual who felt pain and fear and didn’t want to die.

"PETA urges everyone to choose compassion over carnage this Christmas by tucking into a savoury vegan roast."

Allen added in a statement to Tyla: "PETA’s goal is to challenge perceptions, and this darkly humorous film, which highlights how easily people can overlook the suffering behind their Christmas dinner, does just that.

"We can all keep the metaphorical blood off our hands (and faces) this holiday season simply by choosing foods that didn’t cost an animal his or her life."

Tyla has reached out to PETA for further comment.