Joaquin Phoenix’s Ad Urges Bostonians to Ditch Business Suits—Unless They’re Vegan
Award-Winning Actor, Rattled by the Cruelty of Sheep Shearing, Appears on New PETA Bus Shelter Ads
For Immediate Release:
October 11, 2017
Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382
Just in time for the fall shopping season, Joaquin Phoenix appears on a series of PETA bus shelter ads that just went up in the heart of Boston’s menswear shopping district, near Ministry of Supply, Men’s Wearhouse, Bonobos, Bodega, and other prominent men’s suit stores. The ads, which feature the Golden Globe winner and Academy Award nominee wearing a vegan wool suit by Brave GentleMan, proclaim, “Cruelty Doesn’t Suit Me. Please Leave Wool Out of Your Wardrobe.”
Phoenix is famously shy about giving interviews and is not often seen in a suit—but in an exclusive video with PETA, he reveals that his motivation for doing both grew out of a video wake-up call. “When PETA sent me that video of this undercover investigation of what happened in these shearing farms, that was really eye-opening,” he says. “[T]he whole environment—it’s incredibly [violent]. … [T]he only option is to not use wool. That’s become abundantly clear.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—has repeatedly exposed extreme cruelty to sheep in the wool industry. Workers, who are paid by the number of animals they shear, were caught punching, kicking, and stomping on sheep, some of whom died from the abuse. When they’re no longer useful to the wool industry, the sheep are sometimes slaughtered.
Phoenix, who wore wool until he watched the video footage, has teamed up with PETA to promote a #WoolFreeWinter and encourage the suit-wearing people of Boston to choose luxurious wool-free suits on their next shopping trip.
Phoenix is part of a long list of celebrities—including Alicia Silverstone, Daniella Alonso, Joanna Krupa, and many others—who have teamed up with PETA to promote wool-free wardrobe choices.
A provocative PETA billboard inspiring a #WoolFreeWinter and starring Silverstone baring her bottom is up in Portland and New York City.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
