You may have caught a version of this ad on television not long ago, in which an actual monkey fires a confetti cannon. Notice that the monkey doesn’t show up in this version? That’s no coincidence. The Dodge brand, which has previously baffled audiences with such retrograde nonsense as calling the Charger R/T “Man’s Last Stand,” has backed down from using a monkey in its advertising after being criticized by PETA. So much for that thin veneer of über-macho, anti-PC gloss. Hit the jump for Dodge’s petulant response to allegations of animal cruelty.
At Chrysler’s corporate blog,”The Dodge Team” explains:
Yes, we know, chimpanzees aren’t monkeys.
That was one of many facts we learned through the process of shooting our latest commercial for the Dodge Tent Event. The commercial features a young chimpanzee (Suzie) in a daredevil suit. She walks up to a detonator, pushes down the lever and triggers a less-than-huge confetti explosion.
We posted the ad to YouTube, where it garnered thousands of views and hundreds of comments applauding the commercial for its wit and humor. However, there were a few negative comments about animal cruelty that caught our eye. Next, we received two emails, one from PETA and the other from a chimpanzee sanctuary in Washington. Both informed us about the poor conditions of working animal “actors.” They told us how these animals are usually separated from their mothers at a young age, and are usually discarded at seedy roadside attractions after they get too old to act.
We were saddened to learn this, and in the spirit of Dodge, we wanted to take action. We decided to take the spot off the air, and we stopped a full-page newspaper spread from running. Dodge is firmly committed to never using great apes in our advertisements again. We released a new commercial. The footage is identical, only this time you won’t see Suzie. There’s a twist you won’t miss. Make no mistake – we’re not making light of the issue. We hope our attempt at humor keeps the discussion about animal rights alive … and so far, it seems to be working. You’re here, aren’t you? And now, when people ask “Where’s the monkey?” we can direct them to resources where they can learn more about animal cruelty prevention.
We are not a company that hides behind issues or brushes them under the rug. We are a company that meets issues head-on and moves forward. And we promise to keep doing everything in our power to be one of the most honest and forward-thinking companies out there.
Meanwhile, we’re still waiting for an apology for this ad. And would it kill someone to make some kind of statement expressing regret and contrition for the way the Sebring turned out? Chrysler’s just starting to pull the monkeys off its back…
There’s no monkeying around from the corporate suits when PETA goes bananas over the most trivial and banal.
Planet of the Apes, indeed.
They shoulda used a cat. “Dodge– we’re the choice of pus-ies!”
Yeah…Man’s last stand…Standing up to a bunch of weak little PETA brats.
Of course the “sniveling wimp” voice in their TV commercials tells all.
Because members of PETA are Dodge’s target demographic? Dodge needs to spend money where it will help them…
This is a creative ad in that it tries to show that the company is not taking itself so seriously. Studies have indicated that humor is often very effective in turning brand image around for the positive. If this is true, then Dodge needs alot more of these type of commercials.
PETA… People eating tasty animals? mmmm bacon…
It grates on my nerves that someone in advertising would call a chimp a “monkey.”
PS – Re the headline: I see what you did there.
Wow, quite a bit of vitriol over a mildly funny ad and an even funny recovery from an interest group attack of the ad. First they aren’t anti-PC enough for you, then they’re petulant? Tough crowd.
While I’m strongly opposed to trying to domesticate and train wild animals, there’s some misinformation in Chrysler’s statement. Chimps don’t get “too old to act”. When they mature, they get too aggressive to be around people safely. Those folks who are misguided enough to keep chimps have to file their canine teeth down and still sometimes get injured or killed. In the wild, chimps wage war and commit murder and that’s not anthropomorphism. Like many primates and aquatic mammals, chimps enjoy watching violence. Combine chimp behavior with the fact that they’re significantly stronger than people and the conclusion has to be that it’s not safe for people to be around adult chimps.
That being said, I think (and please spare me specious citations of Godwin’s Law) many animal rights activists are not too far removed from Nazis in their disregard for human life. So there are few groups that I despise more than PETA.
I’m very skeptical about claims that old chimps are “usually discarded at seedy roadside attractions”. How many of you have ever even seen a roadside “zoo”? I’m 55 and I think I’ve seen a single place that had a bear on display in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and a few years later, the next time we were going through the same area it was no longer there. With the exception of various Mystery Spots, I’m pretty sure that roadside zoos are a part of an America that no longer exists.
I’m skeptical because of my experience with animal rescue groups.
My ex and I adopted a retired racing greyhound and after Annie died of bone cancer, my ex adopted another “45mph couch potato”, Patty. The greyhound “rescue” community is split between the die-hard dog racing haters that are politically aligned with the animal rights movement, and those people who are either neutral on the subject or not opposed to using animals for sport. You can tell where a rescue/adoption group stands on racing and animal rights pretty easily by looking at their web site. Recently I’ve considered adopting another grey and I’ve decided that I won’t get a dog from a group that takes a stand against racing. Some of the adoption fees go towards supporting the organizations and I don’t want to give money to animal rights activists.
One reason is that since the original problems of putting down dogs in the racing industry have been mostly addressed, as with other groups (like MADD morphing from concern over teen drinking to calling for ever lower and lower BACs), when their raison d’etre no longer exists, the animal rights greyhound rescue groups won’t go away, or even admit that progress has been made.
When I first looked into racing greyhounds about 10 years ago, already over half the retired and washed out dogs were being adopted. Today, the vast majority of racing kennels in the legitimate dog racing industry adopt out their surplus dogs and don’t euthanize their dogs. It’s not perfect and in some states there is lax regulation, but for the most part, the horror stories of the past are exactly that, history. I noticed that those groups are now adopting out “lurchers”, greyhound/coondog crosses that are apparently used in underground racing.
My attitude is that dog racing makes it possible for me to get really cool dogs as pets.
So, while I don’t think that trained chimps are particularly entertaining nor a good idea, my guess is that more mature chimps end up at some kind of sanctuary than at “seedy roadside attractions”.
The chimp that played the role of “Cheetah” in the Tarzan movies is still alive and well cared for. They even have a website devoted to the animal.
“While I’m strongly opposed to trying to domesticate and train wild animals, there’s some misinformation in Chrysler’s statement. Chimps don’t get “too old to act”. When they mature, they get too aggressive to be around people safely.”
I would not go so far as saying these were Chrysler’s statement.
Chrysler’s response clearly state, “Next, we received two emails, one from PETA and the other from a chimpanzee sanctuary in Washington. Both informed us about the poor conditions of working animal “actors.” They told us how these animals are usually separated from their mothers at a young age, and are usually discarded at seedy roadside attractions after they get too old to act.”
“Both informed us” and “They told us” are statements from the e-mails received, not contrived by Chrysler.
Well, one less job saved or created…
BTW, how would one find a seedy roadside attraction if you had a chimp you wanted to sell? Is there some kind of private web site, like kiddie porn freaks and pedophiles use? I mean, there isn’t a listing in the Yellow Pages for Roadside Attractions, Seedy, is there?
I didn’t bother to stop, but last week I saw some sort of roadside attraction featuring animals on the road from I-44 to Meramec Cavern in MO, and it looked pretty seedy. I don’t know whether it featured any primates (the only thing specifically named in the bad signage I could read in passing was ‘alligators’) but I’m sure they would feature a chimp if one was available on the cheap. I’m pretty sure that these roadside exhibits still exist in many areas where family car travel is still high volume.
There are still exotic auctions around, an example familiar to me is Mt. Hope, Ohio, a couple of times a year. I hear you can get about anything there. Never been, as an animal lover and llama farmer it would make me sick to see the things I’ve heard about.
There are plenty of reasons never to buy a Chrysler product. The fact that they just caved in to the lunatics from PETA is just another.
But they didn’t cave in to PETA. The ad agency just used humor and sarcasm to tell PETA to stick it. That is the story everywhere else in the Blogashpere – except here. You need to check out the coverage of this on Autoblog.
See http://www.autoblog.com/2010/08/12/video-no-invisible-monkies-were-harmed-in-the-making-of-this/
And http://www.autoblog.com/2010/08/17/video-taiwan-animates-dodges-invisible-monkey-we-stand-in-awe/
TTAC has been more than a day late and more than a dollar short on this one. It seems as if they waited until they could find a negative angle to report on while all the web sites reported it as a positive, which has also been the response of the vast majority on You Tube.
Thanks for the truth Windswords.
Hey, if you like what you see, more power to you. I don’t think anyone is going to buy or not buy a Dodge based on how this was “handled,” but it’s an interesting counterpoint to Dodge’s past anti-PC ads.
Anyway, I apologize for any lateness in covering this all-important story… I do not, however, apologize for failing to give Dodge “kudos” for its weak attempt at altering what was originally a deeply unfunny ad. If you’re looking for that level of “fairness,” you might as well just read Autoblog… or “all the websites” that found this story amusing and indicative of the high quality of advertising at Dodge.
Dodge caving to crazy demands?
Surely you jest!
Caved? Good God…really? I’m actually more than a little impressed that Dodge gave a damn enough to consider this and made a pretty clever little ad to address it without taking themselves too seriously. I’m not a mega-fan of Dodge, but I kind of like this…makes me “almost” want to go test drive a Hemi!
At first I was a bit dissapointed with Dodge for caving in, and wished they had done something more along the lines of putting the chimp in a fur coast with a big fat cigar. Then I realized that Dodge does have to play certain PR games, and their solution not only was better than pulling the ad completely, but also pretty funny, and might even make the ad better.
As an aside, did anyone see that Ford and GM topped the national customer satisfaction survery today? I have not seen it posted here. Its the first time that two US automakers have placed 1 and 2.
Dodge isn’t caving, Dodge is getting free publicity through the media (the ad has run royalty free all across the country as “news”), and they’ve gotten twice the mileage out of the original ad by now playing with an adapted ending.
Bang for the dollar has always been higher on their list that pleasing PETA, I’m sure.
Watching the original, then Dodge’s “edit” of the AD in response to PETA’s complaint, was pretty darn funny. It’s likely to make PETA even angrier, and that also makes me smile.
This is so much funnier than just pulling the ad. I can’t wait for the ad with the invisible manatees and invisible spotted owls.
+1
I thought it was a good laugh. I’ve asked several people to watch both. The first one with the chimp exposed didn’t elicit much of a response. Everyone laughed out loud at the edited one because it’s so ah, um, unusual.
Definitely a finger in the eye of PETA.
Funny advert but shouldnt use animals really
It’s OK, Dodge learned a lesson. The next tent sale will include free mink coats to anyone who buys a Dodge in the next 72 hours.
The whole affair makes me more likely to buy a Dodge, and less likely to ever support PETA in any fashion.
I for one welcome our new invisible monkey overlords, and would like to subscribe to their newsletter.
And I’d like to see more invisible great apes in future Dodge ads.
Where are all these seedy roadside attractions with former child (animal) actors in them?
After the horrific attack on a woman by a chimpanzee in Connecticut, many of us do not find these animals to be “cute” anymore. They are dangerous wild animals that do not belong in captivity, except in limited circumstances. They certainly should not be treated as pets.
That Dodge missed this is the real story here.
Actually, I think the response is just sarcastic enough to gain some points with every person whose ever been forced to bite their tongue in the name and sake of PC. To say “we know Chimpanzees are not monkeys,’ and that was one of the ‘facts’ they learned, is a way of telling the nattering nabobs of negativity to get a life.
I like Nullo’s idea, their next commercial should star a Chimpanzee in a fur coat with a cigar in one hand a champaign glass in the other, being chauferred arond in a 300C. What better way to show how much Chrysler loves animals?
A non-event, with Chrysler trying to get whatever mileage they can out of it in whatever media will cover it.