Don't laugh at the chimp in the commercial Chimpanzees are not exactly the unsung heroes of advertising; in fact, they're quite sung, having starred in splashy, successful Super Bowl campaigns from E*Trade to CareerBuilder. (Pictured is Jonah the E*Trade chimp, photographed during a long-ago visit to Adweek.) But now one zoologist is calling for a chimp-ad moratorium, arguing that making chimps wear funny hats and dance around for the camera isn’t good for their image. “When chimpanzees are portrayed as caricatures of humans, dressed up in silly outfits and so on, people think that chimps aren’t endangered, aren’t worthy of our conservation efforts,” says Steve Ross of Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo. “There’s probably effects we don’t even imagine when people are watching these [ads] and laughing.” We fully support Ross’s efforts, and advise you not to watch this British tea commercial with chimps doing a James Bond spoof, this Bud Light spot with the talking chimp, and especially not this Arby’s ad with chimps doing Riverdance. And if you watch, please don’t laugh. —Posted by Tim Nudd

March 14, 2008 in Nudd | Permalink

Comments

---

We only cast chimps after most of the actors we cast can't play the part right. Chimpers are Uber-Actors. A solid go-to. Like dogs and babies.

Posted by: Tim | Mar 14, 2008 12:30:59 PM

Tim, your tongue-in-cheek post is exactly the kind of childishness Ross is advocating against.

The chimpanzee, our closest living relative, could very well become extinct within our lifetime.

Let that sink in for a moment before heading back to YouTube-land.

Posted by: Carl | Mar 14, 2008 1:24:44 PM

Yet, in my defense...

http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2006/03/should_advertis.html

Posted by: Tim Nudd | Mar 14, 2008 2:04:40 PM

Let me make sure I understand this— Steve Ross wants people to know that Chimpanzees are endangered, and to help their cause he doesn't want people to be entertained by them, endeared to them on TV, and that the best way to help the Chimpanzees is... to remove them from our social fabric?

I'm sure his intentions are good, but he's clearly clueless.

Posted by: Chris Grayson - GigantiCo | Mar 14, 2008 6:34:06 PM

Tim - Contributions to save the species are certainly welcome from the industry, but this study points out the industry is ALSO contributing to the mis-education of the public regarding that species. It doesn't have to be that way.

Chris - Ross isn't calling for chimpanzees to be removed from the social fabric, afterall he works at a zoo where people can connect with chimpanzees. He's simply sharing evidence he gathered linking the public's misunderstanding of chimpanzees and their misrepresentation in advertising.

This should be a victory for all marketers out there: more proof that advertising is effective. People are buying into the message. Only now, that message needs to change.

Posted by: Carl | Mar 17, 2008 10:54:16 AM

Post a comment

Name:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments:

The opinions expressed in comments are those of the individual poster. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Adweek or Nielsen Business Media. Comments of a promotional nature or comments that are otherwise inappropriate may be removed.