Victory: Levi's and The Gap Inc. Love Animals! May 5, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at May 5, 2009 2:48 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 ) | TrackBack

cryptomundo / CC

I don't think I need to tell you how much we hate it when companies use animals in their ads—or how pathetic it makes the company look when they insist on dragging animals through hell for a thirty second clip to sell some product. It's also downright terrifying and so sad when animals who—having spent part of their lives in the spotlight—completely lose it, and end up paying the ultimate price.

Following the tragic death of Travis, a chimpanzee who formerly starred in Old Navy commercials, PETA approached Levi's and Old Navy's parent company, Gap Inc. (which also owns Gap and Banana Republic), to ask the companies not to use apes in any future ads.

Executives for both companies knew that their choice was clear once they learned that young apes who are used in commercials are ripped away from their mothers when they are only days old, trained by being beaten, kicked, and punched, and then discarded to live in filthy roadside zoos when they are too old and strong to handle.

Gap Inc. and Levi's join other progressive companies and organizations that have also signed our pledge, including Harris Teeter, Young & Rubicam, SEGA, Honda, PUMA, Subaru, Keds, Yahoo!, and The Ad Council.

And, because we are never ones to let compassionate acts go unrewarded, we are sending both companies thank-you gifts for a job well done.

Here's hoping that other leading US companies follow their lead and take a stand against the abuse endured by great apes and other animals forced into show business.