Using a photo from former Ringling Brothers elephant trainer Sam Haddock, PETA ran an ad in this week’s edition of PR News urging public relations agencies to stay away. The photo in the ad shows a baby elephant at Ringling’s Center for Elephant Conservation training center with ropes around its legs and body. The headline reads, “Represent Ringling: Lose your reputation.” And copy reads, “No amount of PR can make beating babies sound good.”
The campaign aims to call attention to the alleged mistreatment of elephants by Ringling Brothers trainers.
Of the campaign, PETA EVP Tracey Reiman said, “Ringling Bros. is a public relations nightmare waiting to happen. There’s not a PR team in the world that is slick enough to sell the beating of baby elephants, the whipping of tigers, and the use of chains, bullhooks, and electric prods on animals – all for the sake of a few cheap tricks.”
So…whose up for the challenge?
