| Newborn girl dies following crash A baby born in hospital after her mother was involved in a road crash in the Borders dies from her injuries. bbc.co.uk |
Animal charities want Costa Coffee to drop advert that stars monkeys Campaigners say Costa Coffee should lose its Rainforest Alliance certification if it continues to use primates to promote its brandThe UK's largest coffee chain is under pressure to pull its first television advertising campaign amid criticism that its use of monkeys encourages people to buy them as pets.The row threatens to become a major headache for Costa Coffee, owned by leisure giant Whitbread, as it seeks to up the ante in a marketing battle with its arch-rival Starbucks.Costa's coffee is certified by the Rainforest Alliance, but the relationship between the company and the conservation body is under strain after five animal welfare groups questioned whether Costa was in breach of the alliance's code of conduct. The code states that certified partners must respect wildlife.The television ad, which aired for the first time on Friday and features a voiceover by actor Bill Nighy, shows 16 primates from five species climbing over coffee machines and breaking crockery. It asks whether an infinite amount of monkeys can ever make the perfect cup, but within hours of its first screening it had fallen foul of animal welfare groups."With the release of this new advert, we feel the need to reiterate our long-held concerns on the use of wild animals in entertainment," said Rachel Hevesi of Wild Futures, which runs a sanctuary for victims of the primate pet trade. "While they are used in this way their welfare is severely compromised, and it has a knock-on effect in the trade in primates as pets," Hevesi added.The relationship between the appearance of exotic animals in the media and a corresponding increase in demand for them as pets is well documented.Owl sanctuaries were inundated with unwanted birds after they became popular following the first Harry Potter books and films. A demand for meerkats and clownfish as pets has also been blamed on the success of television ads such as the Compare the Market meerkats campaign and Hollywood films such as Finding Nemo. It is partly for this reason that the International Primatological Society, whose membership comprises leading primatologists in academia, welfare and conservation, is firmly opposed to the use of primates in the media.In a letter to the Rainforest Alliance, the charities say they believe "the use of wild animals in this way is contrary to your stance on conservation and, in particular, on rainforest species".According to the alliance, its certified products allow consumers to show they "are demonstrating [their demand for] goods grown and harvested with respect for people, wildlife and the environment".The charities – Wild Futures, the Born Free Foundation, the International Primate Protection League, the Captive Animals' Protection Society and the BUAV (the campaign to end experiments on animals) – have urged the alliance to demand that the ads are cancelled or withdraw Costa's certification.The alliance declined to comment specifically on the Costa ads because they do not refer to its certification programme. However, in a statement to the Observer that is likely to put further pressure on Costa the alliance noted that it "objects to the use of captive wild animals in commercial advertising where a company is seeking to highlight or promote its relationship with the Rainforest Alliance or its use of Rainforest Alliance certified commodities".Ads using primates have been successfully opposed by Wild Futures and other animal charities in the past. Last year the EU pulled a stop smoking ad in the face of criticism from animal charities. Dodge, the car manufacturer, reacted in similar fashion when the animal rights group Peta complained about the use of a chimp in one of its ads.In a letter to Costa, which has more than 1,000 shops in the UK, the charities said they hoped it would "think it appropriate to cease using primates in future productions, and make the decision to withdraw the current advert".The row is set to become the first major test for the Code of Practice on the Welfare of Privately Kept Non-Human Primates, which was launched in April. The code states: "Primates used for entertainment and in the media are often removed from their social group and hand-reared, causing distress to the infant, mother and other members of the group."The animal charities claimed the removal of the primates – seven rhesus monkeys, a squirrel monkey, two mandrills and six marmosets – from their social group for the purposes of filming could be in contravention of three of the five needs as stated in the Animal Welfare Act. They said the animals would have spent hours being transported to and from the television studios where the ad was filmed, something that would have had an impact on their welfare.Jim Slater, marketing director at Costa, said: "We insist that no compromise is made regarding animal welfare standards. The monkeys were provided by a specialist organisation and have appeared in movies and on TV many times before."Animal welfareEthical and green livingWhitbreadAnimalsFood & drink industryJamie Dowardguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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