Ad Featuring Chimps Draws Ire
CHICAGO (WBBM) -- An ad for Chicago-based CareerBuilder, which is set to run during the Super Bowl, was meant to be funny.
But as WBBM Newsradio 780's Pat Cassidy reports, the ad has drawn fire from animal rights activists, included a Hollywood star.
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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals objects to the ad because chimpanzees appear in it. That prompted actress Angelica Huston sent a letter to CareerBuilder chief executive officer Matt Ferguson, asking him to watch a video on the way apes are abused physically and emotionally during training, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Huston also said chimpanzees are sent to roadside zoos or "horrifying conditions on training compounds" when they become too strong to handle, the Tribune reported.
She wants CareerBuilder to promise not to air the commercial, and never to use apes in future advertising, the Tribune reported.
Some other ad agencies have sworn off using apes in their commercials. Dodge removed a chimpanzee from its "tent event" commercials, and canceled print ads featuring a chimpanzee, over the summer, the Tribune reported.
CareerBuilder says the American Humane Association watched their commercial as it was filmed. The firm, which is partially owned by the Tribune, says as of now, it plans to go ahead with airing the commercial during the Super Bowl in 2011.
