‘I Am Not a Handbag!’ Proclaims PETA’s Lizard Ad Blitz

Bus Stop Ads Deemed Too Graphic for Chicago and Boston Now Encourage Kindness to Animals Near The Palms at Town & Country and Other Miami Shopping Centers

For Immediate Release:
December 23, 2016

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

Just in time for the last-minute Christmas shopping rush, a fleet of PETA ads promoting kindness to reptiles has gone up near Miami’s shopping malls. The ads—which were rejected by advertising companies in Chicago and Boston for being “too graphic,” despite not depicting any blood or gore—show a lizard next to the words “I Am Not a Handbag, a Belt, or a Pair of Shoes. I Am a Living Being—Just Like You.”

The ads appear on bus stops near Southland Mall, Mall of the Americas, and The Palms at Town & Country.

“Just like us, lizards are made of flesh and blood, and they suffer immensely when hacked apart and skinned alive for belts, bags, and shoes,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is encouraging shoppers to reject cruelty to animals by buying vegan clothing and accessories this holiday weekend and all year long.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—notes that lizards are cut apart with machetes, snakes are nailed to trees, and alligators and crocodiles are impaled with metal rods, all for exotic-skin accessories. Many of these animals are skinned alive.

A growing number of retailers—including Ann Inc., H&M, Topshop, Adolfo Domínguez, Mango, bebe, Cole Haan, Nike, adidas, and many more—have banned all sales of exotic skins.

The Miami ads are part of PETA’s new nationwide ad series in which animals speak out against the industries that abuse them. Chickens in Arkansas take on the meat industry; geese in Silicon Valley condemn the cruelty of down and foie gras; cows in Texas put burgers on blast; pigs in Washington, D.C., urge diners to pass on pork; and sheep urged Mall of America shoppers to steer clear of wool.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.