‘Died in the Wool’ Ad Blitz Hits Louisville—and Sends Forever 21 a Message

Bus Ads Urge Consumers to Steer Clear of Cruelly Obtained Wool, Shop Vegan

For Immediate Release:
March 5, 2019

Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382

As part of its international campaign to persuade Forever 21 to ban wool, PETA has placed nine ads on buses operating near the retailer’s Louisville store that show an image from a recent PETA video exposé of a terrified, bloody lamb alongside the words “Died in the Wool. Wool Kills. Wear Vegan.” The ads will be up for eight weeks.

“Gentle sheep are beaten and mutilated for wool sweaters, hats, and scarves, and Forever 21 is profiting from their suffering,” says PETA Campaign Manager Christina Sewell. “PETA’s ads encourage shoppers to show retailers that they don’t support cruelty to animals by leaving wool items on the rack and opting for chic and humane vegan clothing instead.”

PETA and its affiliates have released 11 exposés of 99 sheep-shearing and farming operations on four continents revealing that the animals are beaten, stomped on, mutilated, and even skinned alive for wool. Because shearers are typically paid by volume, not by the hour, they’re driven to work quickly and carelessly. Strips of sheep’s skin—and even pieces of their ears—are cut or torn off during shearing, and the most gaping wounds are stitched up without any pain relief. PETA has shared all this with Forever 21—but the company has refused to act.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—is also targeting Forever 21 with bus ads in Buffalo and Syracuse, New York, running a total of 27 ads in the three cities.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.