Walgreens Plays Its Cards Right, Pulls Demeaning Great Ape Greeting Cards Following Push From PETA

For Immediate Release:
April 13, 2023

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Walgreens’ greeting card aisle just got a whole lot kinder. Following communication from PETA explaining that greeting cards featuring great apes dressed in costumes and party hats and displaying the misunderstood “fear grimace” hinder conservation efforts, the pharmacy and convenience giant has banned all such cards from its nearly 9,000 stores.

Unnatural images of endangered species, such as chimpanzees—who may face extinction within our lifetime—mislead consumers into believing that they’re actually thriving. These portrayals may also increase the black-market demand for endangered great apes as “pets,” one of the main forces driving them toward extinction.

“The cards are stacked against great apes in their struggle for survival,” says PETA primatologist and PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Welfare Debbie Metzler. “PETA applauds Walgreens for banning cards that exploit them and is now calling on Hallmark to step up and do the same for these sensitive individuals who need protection.”

Walgreens joins CVS and Rite Aid, as well as its own U.K. affiliate Boots, in their commitment to doing the right thing for apes. In thanks, the company will receive a custom vegan cake—decorated with primates—from PETA.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.