PETA Asks AMC to Diverge From Cruel ‘Divergent’ Promotions

Divergent tells the story of a young woman who must fight for her life after being told that she will be killed for being different. To promote the film, AMC IMAX Theatres plans to give away leather Divergent bracelets beginning on opening night. But AMC seems to have missed the irony: The company is planning to commemorate a film that decries social injustice and celebrates the will to live and be free by handing out tokens made from the skin of cows who were unjustly abused and denied their right to live.

So PETA is asking the theaters to embrace justice and fairness by canceling the promotion or instead giving away jewelry whose production didn’t cause suffering and death.

Cows killed for leather are horrifically mutilated, including being castrated, branded, having part of their tails cut off and having the sensitive horn tissue burned out of their heads—often without painkillers. At the slaughterhouse, many animals are hung upside down, skinned, and bled to death while still conscious.

We asked AMC’s president, Gerry Lopez, to watch Stella McCartney’s leather exposé to see for himself where leather comes from:

Identical bracelets could easily be made from polyurethane, vegan leather, or microfiber, all of which have the look and feel of leather and are high quality and typically more affordable.

If your local AMC theater still plans to give away the leather Divergent bracelets, please politely turn yours down and let the manager know that you prefer to diverge from cruelty.