Super Bowl XLVI hasn't even happened yet, and there's already outrage over a commercial that's set to air during the proverbial big game everyone will be talking about around the proverbial water cooler the next proverbial day.
No, it isn't Groupon this time -- the group-buying company announced recently it was bowing out of advertising during the game this year -- but, surprisingly, it's CareerBuilder.com that's drawing the Lincoln Park Zoo's ire.
The Chicago-based CareerBuilder plans on running an ad with costumed monkeys acting in them, which is in direct opposition to the Lincoln Park Zoo's mission to keep chimps from appearing in TV, films or commercials. (We recently did an interview with local digital creative agency Manning Productions about an iPad book the Zoo commissioned, Chimps Should Be Chimps, about this very cause.)
“There is ample scientific evidence demonstrating the long-term negative impacts that the use of chimpanzees in commercials has on species conservation and welfare,” Dr. Steve Ross, assistant director of the Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes at Lincoln Park Zoo, said in a release Thursday.
Then again, this is par for the course for CareerBuilder. Back in 2005, the company ran ads featuring monkeys during the Superbowl. Was the Zoo really surprised by this? This might refresh those synapses:
Somewhere in Castle Groupon, Andrew Mason is laughing about all of this.
David Wolinsky is a freelance writer and a lifelong Chicagoan. In addition to currently serving as an interviewer-writer for Adult Swim, he's also a columnist for EGM. He was the Chicago city editor for The Onion A.V. Club where he provided in-depth daily coverage of this city's bustling arts/entertainment scene for half a decade. When not playing video games for work he's thinking of dashing out to Chicago Diner, Pizano's, or Yummy Yummy. His first career aspirations were to be a game-show host.
