The owner of the World’s Largest Catsup bottle confirmed Tuesday that he was contacted by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals about advertising space on his iconic water tower. He was not impressed by the offer.

“I didn’t even respond to them,” Larry Eckert, co-owner of Bethel-Eckert Enterprises Inc. said.

PETA’s proposed advertisement on the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle / Image courtesy of PETA

PETA released a statement Monday saying they were not willing to pay the $500,000 asking price for the Catsup Bottle and accompanying warehouse, but they would be willing to pay for ad space on the bottle. The news follows Oscar Mayer’s publicity campaign last week intimating that the company had an interest in buying the bottle.

The meat purveyor and the group staunchly opposed to meat consumption may have been using the recent world-wide attention the sale of Collinsville’s favorite roadside attraction has received to garner free publicity. Asked if it would bother him if his property was being used to promote a group or another company, Eckert just chuckled.

“It’s been that way since I bought the property,” Eckert said.

Bethel-Eckert bought the warehouse and bottle at 800 S. Morrison in 1995, the year of the 170-foot bottle’s renovation. The company contributed $13,000 to $77,440 project.

PETA provided an image of a proposed advertisement to deface adorn the bottle, which is currently painted to resemble the traditional Brooks tangy catsup bottles that were once packaged at the foot of the tower, built in 1949. The torso of a laughing woman emerging from the base of the bottle, wearing what appears to be a lettuce bikini top and tossing a vegetable with each hand, would appear below the phrase, “Feeling saucy,” if the PETA offer was accepted, assuming it was genuine.

Although the sale of the Catsup Bottle has generated stories nationwide, and even in Germany, Eckert is still searching for a buyer. There are currently no serious offers, Eckert said.