PETA slams fur trade for ‘preposterous’ new ad
The International Fur Trade Federation is drawing fire from animal rights group PETA for a new ad campaign that focuses on the tradition and craft of the fur industry.
By Sarah Vizard
The ads, which lead with the strapline ‘more than a coat’, will first appear in the October edition of UK Vogue magazine. They are also running in European editions of the magazine and in publications including Tatler, Vanity Fair and House & Garden.
The IFTF claims that the ads are a “daring departure” from its traditional approach, showing neither a model wearing a fur garment nor branded fur items. Instead, they attempt to highlight the craft that goes into making fur products by showing colourful furs alongside items found in a typical fashion workshop.
But PETA is slamming the ads: “Yes, fur is more than a coat – it’s an archaic, out-of-touch and out-of-bounds business and an honest approach would have involved showing not the scissors and cutting boards but the neck-breakers, electrical-shock devices and live skinning which PETA has documented on videotape.”
PETA’s comments come as it launches a new anti-fur campaign featuring Gemma Collins from The Only Way Is Essex. She poses naked in the ad, which uses PETA’s usual end line: “I’d rather go naked than wear fur.”
She joins a list of celebrities, including Eva Mendes and Pamela Anderson, as well as other stars from the TV programme, that have campaigned against the fur trade.
