... PETA and teen sex

So, due to 3 weeks travelling and hence not having much time to keep up with adland's movements, this blog as been lacking in some serious marketing action. So here's something to kick it back off...


After scouring Campaign's archive I came across this little gem which combines a few of my favourite things in one story-animals, PETA & sex (of course not all at once, ew.)


It's an ad that's only been shown in the US as Clearcast have refused to air it in the UK. (Apparently it's unacceptable on the grounds of offence... you'll see why in a minute...)


This short ad shows a teenage lass being encouraged to have unprotected sex by her parents. When she seems worried about getting preggers, they just assure her that any other babies she pops out could just be left on the streets or in shelters. Basically what happens when cats and dogs have loads and loads of cute baby kitties and puppies. Hence, enforcing the fact that neither parents not pet owners should do advocate this; nuetering pets is the way forward. (not your kids though, bit harsh.)

You can see the video here

I think it's based on a really good idea; you wouldn't keep popping out babies and ditching them, so why let your pets do it. I just think it's been kinda poorly executed. It's basically a typical American advert, cheesy-fying the topic and cheapening it. It could have done with a grittier approach, I'm imagining something like the Barnados 'break the cycle' advert. Not such a hard-hitting or serious subject of course. Though you never know, some people may think it's just as important a cause. And when you take into consideration how much money is supposedly given to animal charities as opposed to human charities (old-ish proof here) a new direction on this ad's idea could be really effective.