Written by Michelle Sherrow
If you saw CareerBuilder's latest Super Bowl ad, you probably thought it was as lame as we did, which is why we came up with an ad of our own in response. Unfortunately, we received a "thanks, but no thanks" from Clear Channel Outdoor in CareerBuilder's hometown of Chicago, after we asked to place this billboard near a CareerBuilder vice president's neighborhood:
While we may not have gotten the billboard placed, at least we're not feeling like Tom Brady and the Pats today.
With your help, not even the Giants defense could stop us from telling CareerBuilder to can the cruel chimpanzee ads.
Written by PETA
I'll admit I'm not a huge football follower—maybe because Houston's pro teams have tended to play like a bunch of injured nursing-home residents—but I know that the current NFL lockout is making anxious fans unhappy. However, if you're also a fan of chickens (and there are lots of reasons to be one), buck up—your pain could be their gain!
Sales of chicken wings tend to skyrocket on football game days (especially the Super Bowl), so some mother-plucking chicken-flesh peddlers are worried that if the football season is kaput, so is their wing-selling biz. Well, boo hoo. (Though if anything's keeping them up nights, it should be what they're doing to those birds.)
If the show season does go on, all you true-blue fans can still cheer on your team while helping our feathered friends—just serve up some tasty vegan "wings" at your viewing parties. And to make sure you've got game-day cred, check out what vegetarian NFL star Ricky Williams found when he held a faux-wing taste test.
Written by Jeff Mackey
Here's some monkey business that PETA applauds: BBDO's clever, cute, and completely animal-friendly new ad for GE, featuring snow monkeys who are undisturbed in their natural habitat. There's even an animatronic monkey "hand"—watch for it:
This isn't the only masterpiece from BBDO. Remember Monster.com's fiddle-playing animatronic beaver ad? That was by BBDO too. (Pop-culture mea culpa: I didn't watch the Super Bowl—I know, I know. But after watching the Monster.com ad, I'm wondering what other memorable moments I missed out on. C'est la vie.)
BBDO's innovative work and pledge never to use great apes in ads means that the agency has rejected industry exploitation of animals who are stolen from their mothers, locked in tiny cages, and subjected to daily intimidation and beatings before they are dumped at wretched roadside zoos when they grow too strong or old to perform.
For its commitment to using alternatives to animal "actors," BBDO is the newest recipient of our Humane Ad Agency Award. Of course, many other companies still abuse animals in order to sell their products. Won't you take a cue from BBDO and find out more about what you can do to help animals who are abused in the entertainment industry?
Written by Heather Drennan
It seems like everybody has an opinion about "Octomom" Nadya Suleman, who gave birth to eight babies last year. No matter where you stand on that decision, starring in porn isn't Suleman's only option to remedy the recently rumored foreclosure proceedings on her home in La Habra, Calif. In fact, PETA is offering to bolster her finances by paying to place an ad on her front lawn:
Massive media attention is aimed at covering Octomom's every move, and it's time to put that attention to good use. After all, Americans need to know that millions of dogs and cats end up in animal shelters every year, and half of them are euthanized simply because there aren't enough good homes. Countless other homeless dogs and cats suffer on the streets—dodging cars, enduring attacks by other animals and cruel humans, and suffering from disease and starvation. People need to know that the solution to so much of this suffering couldn't be simpler: Spay or neuter your animal companions.
After all, however one might feel about Octomom, I think we can all agree that for puppies and kittens, one litter is one too many.
Written by Karin Bennett
Gorgeous, voluptuous, and sexy: All of those words describe actor/singer Scarlett Johansson. And now that she's the newest luminary to show support for the Healthy School Meals Act, we can add "humanitarian" and "friend to animals" to the list.
If launched, this $4 million pilot program will ingrain (sorry, couldn't resist) vegetarian food and drinks into school districts' lunch programs over a two-year period. In her letter, Scarlett points out, "Millions of families in America rely on subsidized school lunches, and these meals are absolutely crucial to children's well-being." The Healthy School Meals Act will give kids a chance to develop healthy eating habits that center on nutritious plant-based fare, instead of body parts from stressed, mutilated, and exhausted animals.
By joining Spiderman's Tobey Maguire and health experts around the country in this effort, Scarlett has revealed her smarts and her 24-carrot heart of gold. (Oh, yes, I did.)
Folks, I have to tell you that I am freaking out about a recent government bill.
No, no—I don't mean that one. I'm talking about this one, which would allow barbershops in Tennessee to display live animals in bird cages and fish tanks for "decorative purposes."
Before Gov. Phil Bredesen puts his John Hancock on the legislation, PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman is weighing in and asking him to veto the bill. Why? Because stealing fish and birds from their native homes is cruel: Animals who are kept in tanks and cages are sentenced to a life of boredom, depression, and frustration, and many are subjected to neglect and mistreatment by owners who fail to understand their prisoners' complex needs.
There's no doubt that barbershop customers and spa patrons will breathe a sigh of relief if the current law banning such displays remains in effect—after all, as Jasmine the cockatoo will tell you, not only are caged birds quick to complain about their confines (loudly and repeatedly), some can also pass along diseases such as psittacosis to humans.
PETA is even ready to offer decorating tips. I think that this animal-friendly alternative is a cut above the tanks and cages. Don't you?
Take it from someone who uses the Super Bowl as a bathroom break to get back to the main-event (commercials!): This year, the ads that were shown during the big game made history with their creative alternatives to live animals. Check out our five animal-friendly favorites:
Animatronics have sure come a long way since the Country Bear Jamboree. We need to get Monster.com on the Punxsutawney Phil case stat!
What was your favorite Super Bowl ad?
Written by Logan Scherer
Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams already has enough accolades to span two lifetimes—Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, and Pro Bowl MVP, to name a few—and after he reigned over our Faux–Chicken Wing Taste Test today, we'd like to dub him an MVP: Most Valuable Palate.
The vegetarian NFL star hosted our event at his restaurant, Proof, in Miami. The winning wings may have been gardein buffalo wings, but considering all the chickens who got to keep their own wings, all the arteries that didn't get clogged, and all the taste buds that were more-than-tickled, it sounds to me like the party left everyone happy!
With the Super Bowl fast approaching, all eyes are on CBS and its plans to run an anti-abortion ad featuring college-football-star-to-watch Tim Tebow, sponsored by Focus on the Family. "We have for some time moderated our approach to advocacy submissions after it became apparent that our stance did not reflect public sentiment or industry norms on the issue," said CBS spokesperson Dana McClintock—the same woman who cited the network's "general policy against airing advocacy advertisements" when CBS refused to air our "Pizza Delivery" ad in 2004.
Apparently, the times are a-changin', and we're left asking a question: Do CBS' actions herald an era in which our provocative spots will see airtime? We hope so! But for now, as the advertising debate rages on, we're happy taking a trip down memory lane. Over at Too Hot for TV headquarters, we've collected all our past banned commercials. Remember last year when NBC nixed our scintillating "Veggie Love" Super Bowl ad—and it went on to become a viral phenomenon? Well, that's only the tip of the infotainment iceberg, which includes all the classics—from "Milk Gone Wild" to Joaquin Phoenix's Thanksgiving PSA.
Here's to next year: the year we'll (hopefully) make it onto a list of top 10 Super Bowl commercials that actually aired.
Obviously, Veggie Love would have been the best Super Bowl commercial of all time. But because NBC rejected PETA's ad, we had to leave it off our list of the most appealing and most appalling commercials that aired during this year's game:
The Best:
Bridgestone: In Bridgestone's Super Bowl entry, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head are out for a country drive, swerving around a curvy mountain road. With Mrs. Potato Head busy screaming at Mr. Potato Head, he turns a blind corner and almost runs into a flock of sheep. Thankfully, Bridgestone's tires save the day (and the sheep!) and offer viewers a reminder that it's important to brake for animals. (This is a big deal: Every day, an estimated 1 million animals are killed on U.S. highways alone.)
Coca-Cola: This ad dazzled Super Bowl viewers with its CGI portrayal of ladybugs, grasshoppers, bumblebees, dragonflies, and other insects. An ad this beautiful showcases the advancements in CGI and animatronic technologies that have completely eliminated the need to use live animals in film, television, and advertising. Coca-Cola proves that you can put together a successful ad that makes no artistic compromises while still sending the important message that animal abuse is always wrong.
Sobe: Like Coca-Cola, Sobe used high-tech CGI technology (and absolutely no live animals) to depict lizards dancing with football players. Best of all, no Naomi Campbell this year (we may wish she was CGI, but, unfortunately, she and her furs are all-too-real).
In Between:
Budweiser: Normally, we despise Budweiser's ads featuring Clydesdale horses (who needs a live mascot when there are so many creative alternatives?). But this year, Budweiser almost got on our good side. One of their Clydesdales falls in love with an enslaved circus horse. We're glad to see that Budweiser seems opposed to the exploitation of horses in circuses, but that leaves us a bit confused as to why they're OK with taking advantage of these animals in their own commercials.
Pedigree: We're glad Pedigree promotes adopting dogs from animal shelters (and not keeping exotic animals captive). It appears, though, that at least some of the exotic animals in the commercial are the real deal (as opposed to CGI). Since they clearly weren't filmed in their natural environment, Pedigree looks like one more company that doesn't practice what it preaches.
The Worst:
Doritos: Generally, Doritos' commercials are pretty funny, but one of their ads was completely spoiled by the presence of a capuchin monkey. All animals forced into show business are subjected to beatings and intensive confinement, and capuchin monkeys in particular are high-strung and often resort to self-mutilation in response to stress and boredom. Not funny. At all. Plus, I'm pretty bitter that this commercial depicted a woman's clothes flying off: I thought NBC didn't allow "sexy" ads? I guess this one just slipped by someone at NBC.
Castrol Oil: Without a doubt, "Castrol Oil: Edge Monkeys" wins the Worst of the Worst award for this year's ads. Castrol must not have gotten the memo that young chimpanzees used in the entertainment industry are ripped away from their mothers, beaten into submission, and discarded at filthy roadside zoos when they grow too large and strong to be controlled. Is anyone still laughing? Somehow, I don't think the chimpanzees ever were. Send a letter demanding they stop running the ad and never use great apes in advertisements again!
What were your favorite and least favorite commercials? Leave a comment and let us know.
Written by Liz Graffeo
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