Urge Aflac to Yank Cruel Orangutan Ad

After PETA learned that Aflac—which is renowned for its commercials featuring an animatronic duck—is airing commercials featuring a live orangutan, we immediately contacted the company to request that it pull the ad and pledge never to use great apes in commercials again. We pointed out that in addition to portraying the orangutan in a demeaning way, the use of great apes for advertisements is inherently cruel. Aflac has ignored our calls for the company to stop supporting this cruelty to animals.

Orangutans used in television, movies, and advertisements are typically just a few years old. Training these young "actors" almost always includes physical abuse to ensure that the animals know "who is boss" and pay attention to the trainer. By the time that they are 8 years old—around the beginning of young adulthood—they become too powerful to be safely handled and are often discarded in hideous roadside zoos or are simply warehoused in dismal, appalling conditions. PETA investigations have revealed that former "celebrity" apes were living in small cages littered with garbage and feces and that they were denied basic necessities, such as wholesome food and adequate veterinary care.

Please urge Aflac to stop airing this commercial immediately and enact a policy to ban the use of great apes in any future advertising campaign. Remind the company that there is no reason to use live apes as actors when animation, blue screen, computer-generated images, and other highly advanced technologies—like those used for Aflac's iconic duck ads—can produce realistic substitutes.