Animal Advertising: The Advertising Campaign Of Humans For Animals

The advertising campaign for the group “Humans for Animals” is the brainchild of the Paris division of a global advertising agency known as TBWA Worldwide. (Ads of the World, n.d.) The campaign consists of a series of controversial ads which use role reversal to help illustrate the brutality of animal cruelty. Many other tactics are also utilized to deliver a powerful message against animal cruelty and environmentalism. This ad in the series features a background of the inhospitable frozen tundra with slushy ice flow and large chunks of stationary ice. Prominently featured in the foreground is an adult seal holding a club menacingly in its jaws while positioned above the lifeless body of a human infant. In the lower right-hand corner

Only the most hard-hearted would be unmoved by this image of a bludgeoned child. Perhaps one other reason why the image of the dead child resonates so much more than a normal animal cruelty advertisement is because instead of being just a dead pinniped the audience relates to the human child as a species; that child could easily be a member of their family. The brutality of the scene evokes a visceral response and triggers outrage and compassion simultaneously. This author was left wondering if a mother seal would feel the pain of loss as acutely as a human

It is a variation of what is commonly called “The Golden Rule”. It is certain that there can be only a few in existence who have not heard this lesson of kindness and empathy for others from their mother, teacher or Sunday school teacher. It is of particular interest that this turn of phrase, usually used as a guideline for interaction with other people, is used in the context of human interaction with animals. Some would disagree that people should consider the feelings of the animals, especially when they are used for commerce such as pelts or food sources. Much has been made of the questionable treatment of animals in slaughterhouses or the merciless slaughter of dolphins in Japan. Those targeted by environmental or anti-cruelty groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) justify the killing of animals as being just part of the food chain, industry and in some cases, cultural traditions. It is not likely that the debate about the feelings of animals will be ever be resolved but it is certain that this advertisement attempts to speak to its audience on a very basic level, making this a simple equation of humanity and compassion versus cruelty and greed. Nevertheless, the text seems a bit