In the 1990s, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals gained a lot of publicity with its “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur Ads” featuring super models doing just that. But recently fur has made quite a comeback in fashion circles, and many of those same models are once again appearing on runways decked out in fur rather than in their birthday suits.
So now PETA is turning to singer Sophie Ellis Bextor for an anti-fur campaign photographed by Paul McCartney’s daughter Mary McCartney.
The ad features Bextor holding up a skinned fox with the words, “Here’s the rest of your fur coat.”
Yes, PETA used a real fox for the shoot. According to PETA, the fox was found dead and skinned for the sake of the photo shoot. A Northern Territory News story on the ad noted that the photo shoot “had to be curtailed to one hour because of the stench of the decomposing animal.”
Bextor said she wanted to make a strong stand against fur,
I think fur is really pathetic when there are so many alternatives.
I’m part of the generation that grew up with the ‘We’d rather go naked than wear fur’ campaign and it’s something that really struck a chord with me. It felt a very natural thing to do, to be on the side of the animals when it came to fur.
PETA’s Dawn Carr admitted to The Daily Telegraph that fur had made a comeback in fashion shows,
We have been seeing a lot more fur on the catwalks recently. But, obviously, fashion shows do not reveal the pain and suffering behind each garment.
Animals are electrocuted, gassed and have their necks broken in the name of fashion. We are trying to make the point that fur is never going to be back in fashion.
We have never used a skinned, dead animal in this way before. It is quite shocking and quite difficult to look at.
But Sue Carroll, a columnist for The Mirror, put PETA’s message into the proper perspective,
Most women wear leather, not fur. Why wasn’t Sophie posing next to the skeleton of a cow with the slogan, “Here’s the rest of your shoes.”
Source:
Comment on Anti-Fur Advert. Sue Carroll, The Mirror, November 13, 2002.
Pop singer brandishes skinned fox in protest against the fur trade. Sally Pook, The Daily Telegraph (London), November 12, 2002.
Anti-fur campaigners step up battle. Graham Hiscott, Press Association, November 12, 2002.
Sophie attacks fur trade with advert shocking image: Sophie Ellis Bextor with a skinned fox. Birmingham Evening Mail, November 12, 2002.
Fur flies as Sophie joins fight. Northern Territory News, November 14, 2002.