Hey, Shoppers: ‘Animals Are Not Products,’ Proclaims PETA Ad Blitz

Provocative Ads in Ala Moana Mall Ask Holiday Shoppers to See the Suffering Behind Every Leather Handbag, Shoe, and Accessory

For Immediate Release:
November 20, 2017

Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382

Watch out, Black Friday shoppers: Near “luxury” retailers like Prada, Hermès, and Louis Vuitton at the Ala Moana Center, PETA has placed ads that show a crying eye peering out of a leather coin purse, next to the words “Animals Are Not Products.”

“Behind every crocodile-skin handbag or leather shoe is a sensitive animal who felt pain and fear and did not want to die,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s new ad campaign encourages shoppers to offer some comfort and joy to animals by choosing vegan options on Black Friday, during the holiday shopping season, and all year long.”

PETA’s exposés of the “luxury” leather industry have revealed that reptiles’ necks are hacked open and metal rods are jammed through their spines while they’re still conscious so that their skin can be used to make fashion accessories. A recent PETA exposé of the world’s largest leather processor showed workers branding calves on the face and electroshocking and beating cows and bulls. The group has also exposed a thriving dog-leather industry in China, where workers club and peel the skin off more than 2 million dogs every year in order to make items that are intentionally mislabeled and exported around the world.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—has also placed the ad at Tysons Corner in Virginia, one of the largest “luxury” malls in the U.S.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.