Advertising Animal Protection

ABSTRACT

Animal protection advocates are making use of paid and public service advertising to promote the interests of animals. One advertising approach, the graphic portrayal of animal suffering, has generated controversy within and beyond the animal protection movement. Research suggests that the approach can be effective in stimulating those viewing the advertisement to take action on behalf of animals. Other advertising strategies that may be capable of provoking more humane treatment of animals include tacit depictions of animal suffering and reversing human-animal traits and situations through therianthropic and unconventional anthropomorphic imagery. Advertisements from current and former animal protection campaigns were reviewed for examples of these animal representational strategies. This is the final in a series of papers on the role of mass media in animal protection. Previous articles detailed a history of media coverage of animal protection issues, the role of the media in the animal rights movement, and the effect of the media on public policy decisions concerning animals (Jones 1996, 1997a and b).