Beattie Mcguiness Bungay Promises Never Again To Use Primates In Ads

Contact:
Martin Mallon 0207 357 9229, ext 224; [email protected]
 
After learning from PETA US that young primates who are used in the entertainment industry are forcibly removed from their mothers, kept almost constantly caged and routinely subjected to abusive training sessions, the New York office of advertising agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay (BMB) has pledged never again to use primates in its advertising campaigns. PETA US contacted BMB after learning about its “ballot monkey” campaign, in which the agency offered to send monkeys to pick up and deliver British expatriates’ absentee ballots for the recent UK election.
 
“Young monkeys deserve to be safe and secure with their mothers, not rented out like party tents”, says PETA Director of Special Projects Poorva Joshipura. “Beattie McGuinness Bungay deserves a round of applause for refusing to contribute to the abuse and suffering of primates.”
 
BMB joins BBDO, Young & Rubicam, Arnold and numerous other agencies that have pledged not to use apes in ads.
 
Using primates in commercials is inherently cruel. In the wild, these intelligent and sensitive animals stay with their mothers for years. Early separation is traumatic for both the mothers and the infants. Primates who are used in ads are usually only a few months or years old. Some apes can live to be 60 years old, but when they reach adolescence, they become too strong for their handlers to control. They are often discarded at roadside zoos or sent to cheap travelling shows.
 
Pre-production training of primates typically involves physical abuse. According to eyewitnesses (including a primatologist who spent 14 months working at a Hollywood training facility), trainers beat and kick young apes in order to force them to sit still and obey commands that are confusing and meaningless to the animals.
 
For more information about PETA, please visit PETA.org.uk.