PETA “Sex Talk” ad deemed offensive

A television advertisement for animal rights campaigners the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) that features a couple offering their daughter advice on sex has been rejected by broadcast body Clearcast for being offensive.

PETA “Sex Talk” ad
PETA “Sex Talk” ad

The “Sex Talk” ad features a couple seemingly encouraging their teenage daughter to become sexually active, responding to the girl’s concerns over pregnancy with the line “pop out all the kids you want. We can leave them in the shelter, dump them in the streets … whatever!”

Clearcast, which advises on and clears ads ahead of broadcast, says “the treatment is highly likely to cause widespread offence and lead to complaints.”

PETA claims the ad, which concludes with the line: “Parents shouldn’t act this way. Neither should people with dogs and cats. Always spay or neuter”, aims to make a “satirical comparison to teen sex in order to promote the spaying and neutering of dogs and cats”.

It adds that the spot has already been shown on US TV.

The animal rights group has launched a number of controversial campaigns in the past including the 2003 “Holocaust on your Plate”, which consisted of images of the Holocaust with images of factory farming.

It also previously ran the “I’d Rather Go Naked than Wear Fur” outdoor campaign featuring supermodels such as Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell.

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