SEGA pulls Samba De Amigo ad

PETA complains about use of real monkey

5 November 2008 14:07 GMT / By Katie Scott

Animal rights organisation PETA was none too impressed with an ad for the SEGA game Samba De Amigo.

The trailer shows a real life monkey shaking a set of maracas and then breakdancing.

But the poor little monkey is then pointed at and laughed at by a group of children.

But it's not this that PETA has objected to, but wanted the game's developer to understand "how involuntary chimpanzee 'actors' are taken away from their mothers when they are just a year or so old and forced to perform confusing and repetitious tricks".

Said PETA: "We also explained some of the horrible methods that chimpanzee 'trainers' use, such as electric shocks with shock collars and prods, isolation, beatings with sawed-off pool cues and slapjacks, and food deprivation".

And then they are dumped by the side of a road, or even in a lab, when thet reach puberty at the age of 8.

SEGA has now removed the ad and all has been forgiven.

"We're officially bananas about SEGA", reads a message on the PETA blog. "In fact, we're sending them a thank you card and little vegan chocolates in the shape of monkeys."

Full tags

Gaming, Sega, Biz