PETA Ad Honored Alongside ‘Frozen,’ ‘Gravity,’ and ‘Game of Thrones’

Update: The Visual Effects Society (VES) has just honored PETA’s daring public service announcement “98% Human” with a remarkable three awards at the annual VES Awards ceremony. We’re grateful that our work is being celebrated alongside such productions as Frozen, Gravity, and Game of Thrones, but the real measure of success for “98% Human” is that dozens of ad agencies agreed not to exploit apes in their advertisements after they watched it.

Originally posted on June 25th, 2013: 

“Thought-provoking.” “Eye-opening.” “Haunting.”

These are all words that could be used to describe “98% Human,” the public service announcement that Adrien Brody narrated for PETA that explores the plight of great apes used in film, television, and advertising. Now we can add “award-winning” to that list. “98% Human” just claimed a Gold Lion for visual effects at the prestigious Cannes Lions awards.

The spot was created by top ad agency and longtime PETA friend BBDO and was brought to life through Academy Award winner Brody’s powerful narration as well as cutting-edge computer-generated imagery by celebrated production company The Mill.

Of course, the true measure of the success of a PETA campaign is whether it helps animals. And “98% Human” is doing just that.

Since the spot was released, three more ad agencies have signed PETA’s Great Ape Pledge and promised never to use real apes in their projects. They’re in good company: Dozens of other agencies—including the top 10 in the U.S.—have agreed not to exploit apes for profit.

“98% Human” is changing the way the entertainment industry views great apes.