Guinness isn’t good for you… if you’re an Argentinian penguin

Guinness may be the darling of the ad world at the moment, with its executions featuring all manner of wildlife evolving backwards and forwards in search of a pint of the black stuff.

But its latest ad, featuring two thirsty emperor penguins on their way to the pub and a killer whale, has got charity Animal Defenders International spitting feathers. It is claiming that whatever the benefits for humans, Guinness is definitely not good for penguins.

Although much of the ad was filmed using CGI techniques (and the Diary isn’t ashamed to say it was a bit upset to discover penguins don’t actually hang about in pubs drinking pints), it also featured real animals from a marine park in Argentina.

The charity has questioned the welfare record of the park and claims: “It is totally inappropriate to use these species for filming.”

Diageo responded by pointing out how much of the ad was made with CGI and that the penguins were looked after by a qualified handler.

All of which leaves the Diary wondering about those poor old Toucans that had to balance pints of Guinness on their beaks for years.

And while the plight of the Argentinian penguins is of course a worry, it is not nearly as harrowing as the sight of that doomed polar bear desperately trying to catch a walrus on the BBC’s Planet Earth documentary the other week.

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