(IN) Animals in advertisements

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http://www.livemint.com/2008/05/27233143/Should-animals-be-featured-in.html

Should animals be featured in ads?

PETA found a snake in a breeder's house with its mouth sewn up and

birds' wings are often clipped so they can be handled easily.

 

 

Like many of you, I love the pug in the Vodafone commercials. So it hurt

to read that the li'l fella ran a little too hard after the bus while

shooting for the new spot. D. Rajasekar, secretary at the Animal Welfare

Board of India (AWBI), however tells me that the spot did not attract their

attention on charges of cruelty, but simply because it hadn't got the final

go-ahead.

Films or ads using animals have to be registered with AWBI before the censor

board clears it for public viewing. Rajasekar says the pre-shoot clearance

takes a week, assuming, of course, that the list of conditions is met with.

Earlier, the pre-shoot clearance took two weeks and the post-shoot nod

another two.

The advertising fraternity, however, says that the entire process is still

too lengthy and complex. With fierce competition in the marketplace, ads

have to be made double quick for timely airing, they say. The Vodafone spot,

for example, had to be shown during the Indian Premier League series. So,

perhaps the company could not afford to wait for the final approval. Many

creative directors say they'd rather shoot in another country, use

animation, or else not use animals at all in their scripts. That's not good

news for the slice-of-life creativity that sells a brand story— imagine if

there was no Vodafone pug!

N.G. Jayasimha, campaigns manager at People for the Ethical Treatment of

Animals (Peta), says film-makers usually treat animals well, but the animals

should be more humanely trained. Peta inspects the way an animal was bred

and trained, its on- and post-set treatment and condition. He recounts how

they once found a snake in a breeder's house with its mouth sewn up or how

birds' wings are often clipped so they can be handled easily.

Truth is, most activists don't want animals to be used in films at all. " We

discourage the use of animals in films and ads, " says Rajasekar of AWBI.

Normal functions such as horse riding are all right, but not sequences

involving cockfighting or bullfighting, he says.

A leading creative director doesn't agree that animals should be banned

altogether. If domestic pets can be trained to fetch and behave at home, why

can't they be trained for films in a kinder way, he asks. This debate may

continue till the cows come home.

*Marion Arathoon is *Mint's *advertising editor. Your comments are welcome at

advalue *

 

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