World-renowned Animal Rights Group Uses Creative Art Installation to Demonstrate the Pain Caused by Buying Fur
BEIJING and SHENYANG, China, March 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Fur coats and trim on jackets, shoes, and other accessories may look fashionable, but they're the result of terrible pain says the animal rights organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. This is especially true in China, where sales of fur have increased over 22% in 2012 according to the China Leather Association and are expected to reach RMB16.42 billion (USD2.64 billion at the current exchange rate) over the next two years. Yet this big business comes at a terrible price for the millions of animals needed to meet such demand, who are often kept and killed in inhumane conditions.
To increase public awareness in China and bring a halt to the growing fur trade there, PETA has collaborated with Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, Beijing to launch the integrated campaign "Fur Hurts" with a provocative art installation and corresponding social media crusade.
The campaign centers on a series of unique sculptures created by acclaimed artist Xie Yong, professor of the Shenyang University Art Department. The life-like sculptures portray the animals most threatened by China's fur trade, such as rabbits, minks, and foxes. Instead of wearing their own highly prized fur, these animals are covered in coats of needles to signify the intense pain they feel at the hands of fur traders. The animals will be exhibited at the Zhuozhang Shopping Center in Shenyang with information on China's fur trade and an invitation to make a pledge against buying fur.
At the campaign website (http://furhurts.petaasiapacific.com), the animals have been recreated virtually alongside an online petition. For each pledge collected, a needle will be removed from the online sculptures and replaced with a strand of fur -- and the real animals in China may be able to keep their fur, as well.
While the campaign appeals to people across China, it focuses on the chilly northeast provinces where demand for fur is highest. PETA hopes that by raising awareness of the fur trade and its brutal treatment of animals, it can decrease demand for fur in China and help save animals from being hurt in the future.
PETA has a long record of work combating the fur trade. A recent video expose made by PETA and aired on its website shows the inhumane conditions of many fur farms in China, where animals are kept and killed far away from the eyes of the public. The grisly scenes show rows of distraught animals caged in tiny cells covered in waste. They also show fur traders brutally killing the animals, often with just a metal bar or the cold ground. Some animals are skinned while they are still alive. PETA hopes an artistic representation of the animals' experiences can draw more support from the general public.
About PETA Asia
PETA Asia is an affiliate of PETA US, the world's largest animal rights organization, which has more than 3 million members and supporters around the world. PETA Asia and its affiliates are dedicated to establishing and protecting the rights of all animals. PETA Asia operates under the simple principle that animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment. PETA focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time: in factory farms, laboratories, the clothing trade, and the entertainment industry. We also work on a variety of other issues, including the cruel killing of birds, and other "pests." PETA Asia works through public education, cruelty investigations, research, animal rescue, legislation, special events, celebrity involvement, and protest campaigns. Located in Hong Kong, PETA Asia is the base for PETA's campaigns in 15 countries in Asia, a region that is home to more than one-third of the world's population.
About Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy & Mather is one of the largest marketing communications companies in the world. In 2012, O&M was named Cannes Lions Network of the Year and Most Effective Agency Network by the Effies Global Effectiveness Index. The company is comprised of industry leading units in all of the following disciplines: advertising; public relations and public affairs; branding and identity; shopper and retail marketing; healthcare communications; direct, digital, promotion and relationship marketing; consulting, research and analytics capabilities; branded content and entertainment; and specialist communications. O&M services Fortune Global 500 companies as well as local businesses through its network of more than 450 offices in 120 countries. It is a WPP company (NASDAQ: WPPGY). For more information, visit www.ogilvy.com, or follow us on Twitter @OgilvyWW and on Facebook.com/Ogilvy.
