Removing Big Chimpin’
Marshall Roy — August 12, 2009 @ 10:26 pm
Our recent promotional video Big Chimpin’ got a lot of laughs and positive response, but we also received a few inquiries from concerned customers about the use of a real chimpanzee in filming. The entire Bonobos team thought these questions very important, and relevant given our relationship with Lola ya Bonobo in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
You may have noticed that we removed the video from its home at PrimateSwimwear.com. After a bit of research and consideration, we knew it was the right thing to do.
Even though Suzy, the chimpanzee in the video, may not have been harmed or mistreated in any way while filming Big Chimpin’, the problem with using live apes in commercials and other media is that as they age, they become too strong and behaviorally unstable to be kept safely in captivity. Once they mature, they typically spend the rest of their lives caged and shoddily cared for.
Furthermore, using apes in advertisements propagates the widespread misconception that they can be easily trained and make good pets. This is categorically false, and unfortunately supports the cruel and illegal endangered species black market.
To learn more about this problem, check out this short video from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
At the end of the day, we made Big Chimpin’ with the best intentions—but we were also a little naive, and we’re not afraid to say so. One of our missions as a company is to help out our friends in the Congo who are working so hard to improve the situation there, so in using a real chimp in our video, we were actually doing ourselves a disservice as well.
We thank everyone who wrote to us out of concern for Suzy’s safety and dignity. In the end, it’s because of your thoughtfulness and willingness to speak up that we learned so much! We look forward to bringing you some superb, entertaining new video content in the coming months. And as always, you should never hesitate to share with us your feedback.
12 Comments »
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You guys can dress me up as a Bonobo and let me be in Big Chimpin’ II, I make a great pet.
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Thank you so much for being willing to listen to the concerns of other great ape advocates about using chimpanzees in entertainment. Your company clearly has integrity!
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How refreshing when a company readily admits a mistake (with out the ‘yes, BUT’ to their apology) and quickly takes action! A great example…
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Thank you! AWESOME! This news made my day and your company gets good karma and good PR! Please keep spreading the word to everyone you know in the advertising world.
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What an awesome response! Thank you for being willing to step up for the great apes. It clearly shows that educating others is the best way to spread the word. What an excellent example you have set by acknowledging your naivete and setting it right. Kudos!!
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The portrayal of women in this ad is pretty demeaning as well. Bikini clad bimbos in some bestiality scenario: seriously?
This is the quality of advertisement from a bunch of prestigious busines school grads?
Funny how you apologized to chimps before making a statement about the portrayal of women.
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Marshall Roy Reply:
August 13th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Thank you for voicing your opinion; we take it very seriously. I’m sorry that our ad left you with this impression. In my point of view, the ad does not portray the women as unintelligent or in an otherwise negative light. The sexual overtones of the video are parodical, not literal.
Moreover, it’s important to point out that the women in the video are actresses who enthusiastically participated in our ad. The chimp’s involvement, on the other hand, was compulsory, hence the apology.
Thanks again for reading, and for your feedback. If you’d like to continue this dialogue, please feel free to email me at marshall@bonobos.com, and I’ll make sure our marketing team knows your thoughts. We aim to produce marketing content that is entertaining and imaginative, so any input you might offer would be terrific.
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Jerry from Montana Reply:
October 9th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
My thanks to the company for correcting a mistake and admitting to naivete. Mistakes are understandable but public correction of them is very admirable. This is a company with integrity and responsibility. As for those women actresses; they got paid and were willing participants. No so for the chimps. Let’s lighten up on this one.
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I just read a pretty heartbreaking undercover account of chimps in training:
http://www.animalsvoice.com/edits/editorial/investigations/enter/chimps_media.html
Very clear to me we made the right move. Pretty anti-chimp acting at this point.
Thank you to Sarah Baeckler and Vanessa Woods for educating us.
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I support PETA in everything they do and as a result I am a vegan and it makes me proud that you have pulled this video from the media and apologized in using Suzy even though she was not harmed in anyway.
GREAT WORK!!
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I think your decision to pull this add is a great one, and personally thank you for coming to that decision.
I do feel, however, that you all should also demand for the release of the chimpanzee that you all exploited and ensure that it is placed into a quality animal sanctuary. Retiring this animal from show-business and ensuring that it is given the best care possible is the least you all could do for it.
Again, I appreciate your decision to pull the ad. I just feel that advocating for the chimp that was exploited is the best way to prove that you all understand and care.
Also, your video is still available at this website: http://portal-a.com/2009/08/06/big-chimpin/
Thank you again!
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