Halfords ends chimpanzee commercials after protests

LONDON - Halfords has backed down in the war of words with animal charity CAPS and has agreed not to use chimpanzees in its television advertising again.

Halfords had come under fire for its ads, which featured a cast of tracksuit-clad chimps created by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO.

However, Halfords has said that it no longer plans to use the ads again, following a campaign of protest by the Captive Animals' Protection Society and its supporters to highlight what it called "the cruelty of using apes in entertainment".

The commercial, first broadcast in May, showed chimpanzees dressed in tracksuits riding bikes and "working" on cars, with the strapline "because you pay peanuts, we give you monkeys".

It led to 126 complaints to the Independent Television Commission and protests outside Halfords stores across Britain.

According to CAPS, primate experts across the world condemned the ad and even the cast and crew of the BBC drama 'Judge John Deed' spoke out in opposition to it.

The ITC ruled that it will not be upholding the complaints received in relation to the Halfords television commercial.

In a statement, Halfords said it reviewed the advertising campaign, which is still running, and decided not use chimpanzees in its advertising once the current campaign is finished.

"The company will not therefore be involved in any further filming with chimpanzees," Halfords said.

Craig Redmond, campaigns officer for CAPS, said: "We are delighted that Halfords has responded to the massive opposition to the exploitation of animals in this way and hope that other companies will also take notice of this."

He added: "There has been a worrying trend recently for advertisements to feature wild animals who suffer greatly in captivity, particularly great apes, dolphins and elephants. CAPS will continue to highlight the suffering of wild animals in captivity and will launch similar campaigns to persuade other companies to end their use of animals."

The TV campaign spot is part of a £2.7m brand campaign with media planning and buying through OMD UK.

Halfords last month defended the ads and refused to pull them.

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