PETA – the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals – has never been known for its subtlety.
You may remember them as the people who brought you the “I’d rather go naked than wear fur” campaign in the 1990s.
The advertisement featured a parade of stars – Kim Basinger, Wendy Williams, and Pamela Anderson – posing naked for the titular campaign against fur.
Now PETA has settled on another target, and it’s one painting contractors will be familiar with.
In a press release this week., PETA took aim at BEHR in a campaign to convince the company to … change the names of certain paints?
PETA calls it the “paint a picture of kindness” campaign, and let’s be honest, it’s clearly a publicity stunt.
The press release is asking BEHR to change the names of paints that harken to animal cruelty, including “White Wool” and “Ivory Palace.”
PETA wants BEHR to change the name to more “animal-friendly” descriptors like “Vibrant Vanilla” or “White Sand.”
“Words matter, and appearing to promote the exploitative wool and ivory trades paints the wrong picture in this more enlightened age,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk.
How does this help animals? Presumably by bringing attention to the plight of elephants killed for their ivory as well as whatever animal has white wool.
We don’t expect BEHR to respond to this nonsense, nor make any changes to the paint color names without ample focus groups and customer listening.
We cannot imagine any customer will be silly enough to bring this up to you.
But it may not be a bad time to make clear: No elephants were harmed in the making of ivory paint.
6 Responses
It’s such a simple and great idea to convey that animals are not things for humans to use and exploit. Thanks for covering the story!
Words have meaning. Love this idea!
Words matter. I think PETA’s request is both reasonable and right.
I love this idea and really hope that Behr gets on board with updating the names of their paints to be kind to all kinds
Wow, I never thought of that. What a small way to make a big difference. I think Behr (and other paint manufacturers) should consider this – who is it going to hurt? Language does make a difference and this could de-normalize the use of language that is about harming animals. While it’s true that no elephants were hurt in the making of “ivory” colored paint, no one can deny the first thing that pops into your head when you hear “ivory” is an elephant tusk – and usually not one that is still attached to an elephant’s face….Good on PETA for even thinking about something like this.
This is an awesome idea! The most subtle changes can make a huge difference in how humans perceive and ultimately treat other animals. I love that PETA leaves no stone unturned. <3