Jeers to Ziploc, ad agency Energy BBDO and RSA Films’ director Rob Cohen for their “Little Beasts” online advertising campaign, which forces animals to “act.” The online commercials are supposed to appeal to parents by highlighting some of the most chaotic scenarios known to parenthood: potty training, putting a toddler to sleep, dining out with twins, etc. Improv actors play the roles of the parents, however the role of the kids is played by animals, including a lemur and two capuchins. 

Ziploc was hoping this commiserative video series would resonate with parents by sending the message—while Ziploc can’t stop the crazy, it can help contain the chaos. Instead the brand is saying to the public it is insensitive to animals and doesn’t mind exploiting them to sell products. Friends of Animals knows first-hand what happens to primates exploited in TV commercials and movies since it manages Primarily Primates sanctuary in Texas, which cares for many primates who were discarded from the entertainment industry once they got too old to control.

Primates are not meant to be actors or pets. Often these young animals are pulled prematurely from their mothers, and then trainers withhold affection and reassurance from them to get them to “act” the way they want them to. At Primarily Primates we provide homes for 73 capuchins and 45 lemurs, 35 of which are ringtail lemurs, two are white-fronted lemurs and eight are brown lemurs from both research and exotic pet trade sources.

Please tell Ziploc to stop using animals to sell its products. Call 800.494.4855; write to CEO Fisk Johnson, SC Johnson, 1525 Howe Street, Racine WI, 53403 or send an email right here.

Cheers to members of the California’s Fish and Game Commission who voted 4 to 1 on Dec. 3 to ban coyote hunting derbies—contests where hunters vie to kill the most coyotes, or the biggest, for prizes. 

Project Coyote, an animal rights group based in San Francisco, had petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission. Media reports explained that Project Coyote, which is adamant that coyotes are vital to the ecosystem and food chain, sprung into action to ban coyote killing contests this year when it learned that a “killing contest” also threatened Journey, the one wolf left in Modoc County. Journey normally travels through Modoc and surrounding counties. 

Although the California Fish and Game Commission had voted to protect wolves under their Endangered Species Act back in June, allowing a wildlife-killing contest to take place, although targeted on killing coyotes, foxes, bobcats and other animals, still endangered Journey’s life. 

Friends of Animals hopes California will inspire New York to pass similar legislation. We have been advocating for Senate Bill # 04074 and Assembly Bill # 03661, which would finally put an end to all competitions based on shooting and killing animals in New York.