PETA Media Center > Recent News Releases : CDW Nets Top PETA Litterbox Award for Ads That Exploit Chimpanzee

Annual Award Given to Office-Supply Company for Ads That Stink for Animals

For Immediate Release:
January 17, 2008

Contact:
Kristie Phelps 757-622-7382

Chicago -- For attempting to increase sales by exploiting a chimpanzee in a series of commercials in which a customer and his ape sidekick try to get a business started on a deserted island, computer-supply company CDW has "won" the Golden Scoop Award in PETA's annual Litterbox Awards.

Young chimpanzees like the one used in the spots are torn away from their mothers far too early and are often beaten and electrically shocked behind the scenes. Many trainers used by ad agencies have abysmal histories of failing to comply with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's minimum standards for animal care. A primatologist who spent 14 months working undercover for a California facility that trains great apes for the television and film industries found that trainers were kicking, punching, and beating chimpanzees. At around 8 years of age, the animals become unmanageable and are often discarded in decrepit roadside zoos and spend the rest of their lives--up to five decades or more--in cramped, squalid conditions.

"CDW's advertising department must have been living on a deserted island if it didn't know that chimpanzees belong in jungles, not commercials," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "The abuse that these animals endure almost from birth is no laughing matter."

PETA gives Litterbox Awards to companies that advertise in ways that show a lack of compassion toward animals or that handle animals irresponsibly. Joining CDW is Singapore Airlines, another company that has attempted to boost revenues by using an ad that stinks for animals.

The group also gives Glitterbox Awards to companies that depict animals in a positive manner and promote respect for animals in their commercials. Glitterbox winners this year include General Motors for a Chevy commercial that raises awareness about vegetarian diets and protecting the environment and Georgia-Pacific Corporation for a Brawny paper towels ad that shows a "man's man" as he humanely removes a spider from his house. All winners in both categories are featured in PETA's quarterly magazine, Animal Times.

For more information, please visit PETA.org and NoMoreMonkeyBusiness.com.

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