Washington: Brit singer Ozzy Osbourne’s new Samsung smartphone ad has been dropped from TV screens in the US after allegations of ape abuse surfaced.
Animal rights activists at People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) lobbied to get the ad axed after spotting a performing chimpanzee in it.
PETA bosses told Samsung officials that chimpanzees and other great apes used in advertising were removed from their mothers as infants, and routinely abused in behind-the-scenes training sessions.
Samsung bosses agreed to withdraw the television commercial, which features Osbourne watching a chimpanzee ‘rock star’ on a smartphone.
“PETA applauds Samsung’s decision to distance itself from cruelty to apes who are used and abused in entertainment,” Contactmusic quoted a spokesman for the organisation as saying.
ANI
