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Should advertisers be paying their animals? Did you ever get the nagging feeling that Spuds McKenzie was grossly, almost criminally underpaid? Or that Jonah the E*Trade chimp got the shaft? The animal kingdom gives a lot to advertising, and gets little in return. In the most recent Super Bowl alone, we had the CareerBuilder chimps, the Clydesdales, a streaking sheep, a grizzly bear—it was a damned zoo. And what thanks do these creatures get? A few nuts. Some wet food, maybe. A kick in the furry backside on their way out to pasture. One man wants to change all this. According to a report in The Economist (subscription only, but you can get a day pass), a Canadian filmmaker named Gregory Colbert, who is known for his work with animals, is setting up something called the Animal Copyright Foundation. Some sort of “Animal Copyright” button would appear on the ads of participating companies, which would donate “1 percent of a media buy, including print, broadcast and Internet, [for ads] that use animals.” Almost all the proceeds would go to conservation projects. It sounds like a cool idea. Why shouldn’t animals benefit in some way from their talent? And it would mean big money for good causes. Most advertisers will probably dismiss it out of hand, but we’re on board, with one caveat: the Geico gecko gets nothing, because he’s a cockney yob. —Posted by Tim Nudd

March 10, 2006 | Permalink

Comments

What a great idea! Wish I thought of it. If advertisers had their way, we would still be stampeding horses and shooting them when they broke their legs. Perhaps our viral American pop culture can persuade people to forego "bush meat". Pretty close to cannabalism by my reckoning.

Posted by: Rick in Duxbury | Mar 11, 2006 11:07:48 AM

; )

Posted by: mars mckilter | Mar 12, 2006 5:15:12 PM

This idea makes perfect sense to me. I am the producer of KidsLoveAnimals.com DVDs and it is part of our mission to donate 2% from every DVD that we sell to conservation groups that are saving endangered species. Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Pantagonia, calls this an "Earth tax."

Posted by: Paul Garrett | Mar 24, 2006 1:10:25 AM

It's one of the dumbest ideas I have ever heard! It would be fine if it was a volunary donation but, in Colbert's announcement of the idea, he made it clear that all advertisers WILL comply with his idea or face the consequences. What kind of self-important nut-case thinks that he can simply decree that HE will collect a fee from anyone using images of animals or nature in a ad? And who would oversee the fund? Colbert?

Posted by: ZoneIII | Apr 22, 2007 12:31:27 PM

I love this idea! I am all for supporting the planet, because if we don't, we will all pay eventually. Its natures law, as he says on his video (see You Tube) that what you take, you must give back. Its about time we paid attention. This is the perfect opportunity to start healing our planet. I can't wait to see and hear more. Oh and yes ... I'm in marketing so I'm not just some dumb tree-huger! Earth tax - I love that too!!! Here's to appreciating our home.

Posted by: Julz | Aug 1, 2007 2:45:37 AM

could anyone tell me if there has been any movement on this? i would love to know.

Posted by: splaff | Aug 29, 2007 12:24:48 PM

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