PETA versus Hallmark and the grinning chimps
PETA #PETA
It’s not hard to get the folks at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals upset. But Hallmark?
It turns out that the Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments turns 50 this weekend, and the anniversary has given PETA a chance to rap the all-American company for using images of grinning chimpanzees on bestselling cards.
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PETA Vice President Colleen O’Brien said endangered chimps aren’t smiling but instead are displaying a “fear grimace,” and continued use of the image boosts the black market for them.
Washington Examiner Photo
To drive her point home, PETA is distributing its own ornament of a grimacing chimp holding a card that reads, “I’m not smiling, Hallmark. I’m scared. Stop exploiting me in 2023.”
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In a card accompanying the ornament sent to Secrets, O’Brien wrote, “Pictures of great apes dressed in costumes, engaging in silly and unnatural behavior and displaying a fear grimace — which humans often mistake for a grin — hinder conservation efforts, because they lead consumers to believe that great apes are thriving rather than endangered.”