Written by Alisa Mullins
Ravens weren't the only winning animals in Super Bowl XLVII. Great apes finally got a reprieve when CareerBuilder at long last decided to stop dressing up chimpanzees in business suits and featuring them in ads about immature coworkers. The ads were unintentionally ironic, since the chimpanzees truly were immature, as in babies. Thank the football gods that CareerBuilder decided to retire those idiotic ads before Ray Lewis got his first hip replacement.
In fact, no great apes were used in any Super Bowl commercial this year, the first year since all the top 10 U.S. advertising agencies pledged never to use great apes in their advertising after meeting with PETA.
As shown in PETA's video exposé, narrated by Anjelica Huston, great apes are torn away from their mothers shortly after birth and are beaten in order to force them to perform. Once they get too powerful and dangerous to control, they are often discarded at dismal roadside zoos.
Great apes weren't the only animals given the day off. Most of the exotic animals featured in the Super Bowl ads were computer generated, not that the average viewer could tell the difference. It makes a big difference to the animals, though, when advertisers opt for realistic computer-generated imagery and animatronic stand-ins and refrain from subjecting real animals to the rigors and abuse of training both on the set and off.
During a PETA undercover investigation of a facility that trains big cats, we documented that the animals were deprived of food, dragged by chains around their necks, hit in the face, and smashed over the head with ax handles. When they're not being forced to perform, exotic animals are confined almost constantly to cages and chains.
If this Super Bowl is any indication, cutting-edge companies seem to be recognizing that compassionate customers are turned off by animal abuse and will tune out cruel ads—because the only squirrel dance that we want to see during the Super Bowl features a burly linebacker.
Written by Michelle Kretzer
Screen legend Anjelica Huston knows what makes good TV and what doesn't. And there's no question which side of the line ads that use great apes fall on. She is urging Steak 'n Shake to pull its current TV spot that includes a forced performance by a chimpanzee. Along with a copy of her video exposé about great-ape "actors," Anjelica sent the company a long letter, saying, in part, "These chimpanzees are destined to endure a lifetime of abuse for your 30-second spot—a point that no compassionate person would find funny in the least."
The stars of Enlightened are enlightened enough to know that you don't force animals to perform—but you can ask a PETA staffer to! Star Mike White is such a big fan of PETA that he invited PETA Vice President Lisa Lange to make a guest appearance on this Sunday's episode and plug the organization. And during filming, Laura Dern thanked Lisa for what PETA is doing for animals.
Zachary Quinto knows the right way to put animals on camera: making a film starring homeless dogs that's about adopting from animal shelters instead of buying from pet stores and breeders. And Zachary's tweet about his film Dog Eat Dog was one of our paws-down favorites this week:
Anne Hathaway was a paws-down favorite at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, accepting her award in custom-made vegan Jimmy Choos.
Actor Aisha Tyler took to Twitter to talk about some vegan meals she has been enjoying, and PETA has been helping by tweeting Aisha links to tasty recipes.
And Paul McCartney gave us plenty of them to choose from with his Meat Free Monday Cookbook. He reflected on decades of meat-free eating and animal advocacy as well as how he is honoring Linda McCartney's life in a poignant piece titled, "My Life as a Vegetarian – Supporting Linda's Legacy."
Fauja Singh will be leaving quite the legacy as well. The world's oldest marathon runner has announced that he will retire this year at the ripe old age of 101. What does he say gave him his longevity and fitness? Exercise and a vegetarian diet, of course.
To keep up with what all the stars are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter.
Internationally renowned primatologist and animal rights activist Dr. Jane Goodall is being honored by the Tournament of Roses as the grand marshal of the 2013 Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. The timing of the honor couldn't be better, as Chimpanzee, a film she helped make, has been popular with moviegoers and Congress is currently considering the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act, which would ban invasive experiments on chimpanzees.
Fellow great ape defender Anjelica Huston is working to end fur farming in Ireland, where she grew up. Writing to Ireland's minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Anjelica, who used to wear fur but ditched it after she learned about the cruelty inherent in the industry, urged him to "follow through on the commitment to add Ireland to the growing list of countries – including Northern Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, and Great Britain – that have banned the cruel practice of fur farming."
Taraji P. Henson and Elisabetta Canalis strutted their fur-free stuff this week. Taraji gave animal advocates a howling good time with her box-office–topping film Think Like a Man, and Elisabetta gave her advocacy some Italian flair, tweeting a lovely message in Italian encouraging fans to read the 20th anniversary edition of Free the Animals.
Sophia Bush wants to free animals from military trauma training. She tweeted the link to PETA's video exposé showing goats who were mutilated, writing, "I support our troops. But I cannot in good conscience support 'training' exercises like these. This cruelty must stop."
Other celebs were all a-twitter for animals this week, too:
It looks like former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley took former President Bill Clinton's advice and went vegetarian, dropping some unwanted pounds in the process.
Another famous Chicagoan, Derrick Rose, introduced his new basketball shoe, the adiZero Rose 2, and the Chicago Bulls point guard is making bulls very happy—his shoes are completely leather-free.
A cobra—Cobra Starship frontman and vegetarian hottie Gabe Saporta—made the list of the 50 Most Beautiful Latinos in Hollywood, along with PETA buddies Penélope Cruz, Eva Mendes, Vida Guerra, Roselyn Sanchez, and Ana Ortiz.
Written by Jeff Mackey
After learning that CareerBuilder is once again using baby chimpanzees in a Super Bowl ad, Anjelica Huston has teamed up with PETA to urge the company's CEO, Matt Ferguson, to stop using chimpanzees in its commercials—unless they are created using cutting-edge computer animation, like the conscientious folks behind Pfizer's Robitussin "orangutan" ads and the movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes have done, saving animals from being taken away from their families, cruelly trained, and then abandoned when they can no longer be controlled.
Anjelica—soon to be seen in NBC's Smash—has been a strong supporter of PETA's campaigns to end the use of chimpanzees and other great apes who are forced to work as "performers" in films and on television. In her letter, the Oscar-winning actor, well, smashes CareerBuilder's excuses, pointing out that monitoring on-set action doesn't prevent the cruelty that happens before and after the ad is shot, as described in the video Anjelica narrated for PETA on the subject.
As Anjelica's letter to Ferguson states, "It is astonishing that you are unmoved by the videos, photographs, and case reports of what befalls these animals from the moment they are taken from their mothers to the moment they die." Let's hope he finally gets the message and that this will be the last year that the big game will be interrupted by images of real baby chimpanzees performing stupid tricks in a sad attempt to appeal to clueless job-seekers.
Written by PETA
For me, the highlight of the 2010 Super Bowl wasn't the Saints' inspiring victory in their first Super Bowl appearance but rather the abundance of animal-friendly commercials that ran between touchdowns. That's why I was saddened to hear that CareerBuilder is planning to run a commercial featuring real chimpanzees during the 2011 Super Bowl, even though the company was bombarded with thousands of letters from concerned people after airing similar ads in 2005 and 2006. CareerBuilder knows by now that chimpanzees used in the entertainment industry are physically abused, torn away from their mothers when they're babies, and usually abandoned by the age of 8, but apparently it just doesn't care.
Anjelica Huston has now joined with the thousands of PETA supporters who have written letters to CareerBuilder urging the company to can this cruel ad. If you haven't already done so, please remind CareerBuilder that there is nothing funny about cruelty to animals and urge the company to cut the monkey business.
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
After hearing about the death of Travis, the captive chimpanzee who was shot after mauling a woman in Connecticut, Oscar winner Anjelica Huston—who has long been an advocate for the compassionate treatment of great apes—issued the following statement:
I was saddened to hear about the incident involving the chimpanzee, Travis, and my heart goes out to the woman who is now lying in a hospital bed as a result of this horrific attack. Recently, I narrated a video for PETA about the abuse that chimpanzees and other great apes endure when they are ripped away from their mothers when only days old to be used in commercials (as Travis was) and movies. Although I was sick when I heard about this most recent incident, I wasn't surprised. I sincerely hope that this tragedy will make people realize that great apes should never be kept as pets or exploited for films, television, or advertising. Their lives are miserable from the day that they are taken from their mothers: They endure abusive training—usually beatings—until they are cast off to roadside zoos or meet a violent end, as Travis did in this tragic case.
If you haven't watched Anjelica's video yet, you can view it here:
You can help prevent future tragedies like this one by urging Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell to ban the private ownership of chimpanzees.
Hold on to your loincloths, boys and girls—another adaptation of Tarzan (yes … in addition to the 88 that already exist) will be swinging into theaters in 2010! Critics say co-writer and director Stephen Sommers will be focusing on jungle love, but this classic story is sure to have scenes of a boy raised by great apes in the jungle. So, when Anjelica Huston (who has been speaking up for animals abused in the film industry since she was a kid) heard about the film, she contacted Sommers. Anjelica writes:
"Ever since I heard my father complain about animal trainers on the set of his epic The Bible, I've worried about what happens to animal 'actors' behind the scenes. . . . Critics lauded King Kong … for the emotional depth that the giant ape displayed—without any real apes suffering in the process. Can I please hear that you similarly plan to use only creative alternatives to great apes in Tarzan?"
"Ever since I heard my father complain about animal trainers on the set of his epic The Bible, I've worried about what happens to animal 'actors' behind the scenes.
. . .
Critics lauded King Kong … for the emotional depth that the giant ape displayed—without any real apes suffering in the process. Can I please hear that you similarly plan to use only creative alternatives to great apes in Tarzan?"
Luckily, Sommers has a history of using flashy special effects and CGI in his blockbuster films, which have included Van Helsing and The Mummy. Hopefully, he'll continue to do what he does best and leave great apes in the jungle where they belong. Oh, and Sommers, if Anjelica's lovely letter doesn't convince you, here's a promise: Leave out the live apes and I'll be your personal Jane.
P.S. If you haven't seen it yet, check out Anjelica's behind-the-scenes exposé about great apes forced into the entertainment industry here.
Written by Liz Graffeo
Anjelica Huston has decades of experience on the set, tracing back to watching her father, John, filming during her childhood. Given her experiences with animals on the set, we were excited when she sat down with us to discuss the abuses endured by great apes used in film, television, and advertising.
U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors have documented that chimpanzees and orangutans were denied even minimal "environmental enrichment" and veterinary care in times of illness. And undercover investigations have shown that trainers beat and scream at great apes in order to force them to perform dumb, confusing tricks, take after take, under the burning arc lights.
Chimpanzees can live to be 60 years old and orangutans can live to be 50, but they grow too strong to be handled around age 8. That's when, useless to the industry, most are dumped in roadside hellholes, where they can live in barren cages, languishing amid their own waste or sold for use in experiments. There is no Hollywood actors' retirement home for them. You can see Anjelica's video about this business here:
Anjelica also spoke with us after the filming of the video, telling us how she grew so passionate about this issue, and why the abuse of great apes will never happen on her set:
I think without question that [when] one forcibly takes small simians, small apes away from their parents at [a young] age … and manipulating them into some sort of fake response for the amusement of humans or indeed human children—it's a very bad ethic. … I remember seeing this terribly sad, lonely elephant in Bath, England, at the zoo in the pouring rain with nothing but a football for companionship, and thinking, "No child on Earth would want to see that. No child on Earth who understands the predicament of this animal could possibly approve it."
Check out the b-roll from the video shoot here:
Thanks, Anjelica, from us and from them!
Written by Sean Conner
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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