Seems the complaint meter is going up again in the U.K. This time, it’s for an ad featuring chimpanzees for car and bike equipment chain, Halford’s. Under the tagline, “because you pay peanuts, we give you monkeys”, the chimps cavort around the store in track suits. The ad has receive 75 complaints so far and the Captive Animals Protection Society, U.K.’s version of PETA, is calling for a boycott.
Halfords refuses to pull the ad saying, ” The ad was pre-approved by the broadcast advertisers clearance center, part of the ITC (Independent television Commission), and we are happy to run it. The marketing team did have some concerns about using chimps, but our advertising agency heavily researched the ad with audiences and it was well-received. All the rules and regulations in place for the protection of animals were adhered to and there were trainers and vets on site.”
The ad is off the air but only because that was in the plan. It is scheduled to air again beginning in July.
The animal protection group, CAPS, does not want it to return to the air calling the ad “cruel” and “totally unacceptable” stating, “This ad is stepping back 20 years. It is not funny and doesn’t give the products a good image. PG Tips (a previous advertiser who used chimps) stopped using chimps because they realized it was no longer acceptable.”
Where has our sense of humor gone? View the ad here, although the link was broken at the time of publication.
