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Chimpanzee Exploited by Christian’s Mattress Xpress
September 23, 2010
A recently filmed commercial by Christian’s Mattress Xpress in California features a young chimpanzee named Kenzy. The company has chosen to ignore concerns from primate advocacy organizations and is planning to air the commercial next month. See the news article and video here.
Please send a polite letter to Christian’s Mattress Xpress asking them not to air this commercial. Your letters can make a difference – last year the producers of Dancing with the Stars made the right decision and dropped a chimpanzee clip from the show after hearing from concerned advocates.
Let them know that chimpanzees cannot be trained for entertainment by positive reinforcement alone, and brutal training practices in the entertainment industry are well documented. Remind them that in addition to welfare concerns, using chimpanzees in media seriously hinders conservation efforts of free-living chimpanzees.
You may send your letter to Christian’s contact form
Or you can call and leave a message on their corporate office voicemail: 559-834-9663
Sample Letter for the Contact Form:
Dear Mr. Gonzales:
I was shocked and disappointed to hear that Christian’s Mattress Xpress exploited a chimpanzee named Kenzy in the filming of their recent commercial promoting their mattresses. You should know that chimpanzees used in entertainment are torn away from their mothers as infants, often repeatedly beaten during training, and then discarded when they become too strong to be managed.
Please make the compassionate decision to not air the commercial with Kenzy, and please consider to never exploit great apes for entertainment purposes again. Thank you for your consideration of my comments on this urgent matter.
Sincerely,
[Your name here]
[Your city and state]
Sample Voice Message:
This message is for Ron Gonzales, CEO of your company. I am calling to express my concern about your plans to air a commercial featuring a young chimpanzee actor. Chimpanzees in entertainment are routinely beaten and abused in order to perform for productions such as yours. Please make the compassionate decision and reconsider the airing of this commercial. Thank you.
**If you write a letter to the company contact form, please copy and paste in an e-mail to PrimatePatrol@ChimpSanctuaryNW.org for tracking purposes.