Henk Schiffmacher Says, ‘Ink, Not Mink,’ In New PETA Netherlands Ad

For Immediate Release:
12 November 2008

Contact:
Anna Sargent 020 7357 9229, ext 228; 0792 187 1019 (mobile); [email protected]
Sam Glover 020 7357 9229, ext 229; [email protected]

London – World-renowned tattoo artist Henk Schiffmacher has inked the skin of some of the biggest names in rock – from Kurt Cobain and Robbie Williams to members of Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers. But there’s one thing he can’t stomach seeing next to people’s skin: fur.

To make his point, tattoo gun in hand, Schiffmacher agreed to star in PETA Netherlands’ latest “Ink, Not Mink” ad. The ad was shot by renowned photographer Rick Arnold at Schiffmacher & Veldhoen Tattooing, the famous Amsterdam studio owned by Tycho Velthoen and Schiffmacher’s daughter, Morrison.

This is not the first time Schiffmacher has worked to expose the cruelty of fur. He once went undercover and took photographs at a fur farm in the Netherlands. “I’ve seen the slaughter of silver foxes with electrodes and the gassing of minks – and piles of dead bodies”, he says. “And it ain’t a pretty sight.”
 
“We hope that Henk’s ad will remind people that, while getting a tattoo can sting a bit, we can choose whether or not to get one”, says PETA Europe Director Robbie LeBlanc. “Animals tortured and killed for their skins and fur don’t have a choice – and they pay with their lives.”

Other celebrities who have contributed to “Ink, Not Mink” ads for PETA’s affiliates include Franka Potente, Bela B, Dennis Rodman and Tommy Lee.

For more information and to view Schiffmacher’s PETA Netherlands ad, please visit PETA.org.uk.