Animal rights organisation PETA is pissed at The Offspring‘s zany new music video for ‘We Never Have Sex Anymore’.
The veteran punk rockers’ new clip centres on a pair of chimpanzees, a husband and wife couple, whose relationship has lost its spark. The “husband” chimp then gets treated to a wild night at a strip joint by Full House actor and 90’s heartthrob, John Stamos.
It’s a comical concept, but PETA aren’t laughing. Instead they’ve issued a scathing press release, accusing The Offspring of animal exploitation.
It reads, in part:
“Today, PETA sent a letter to The Offspring lead singer Dexter Holland asking him to pull the group’s ‘We Never Have Sex Anymore’ music video immediately because of its egregious exploitation of chimpanzees. In it, two chimpanzees are dressed up and forced onto chaotic sets, including a set that looks like a strip club, where one is depicted drinking, tipping dancers, and swinging on a pole under bright lights.
The primates were reportedly supplied by Steve Martin’s Working Wildlife, a notorious training outfit that has been cited numerous times by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act, including for locking chimpanzees in cramped and barren ‘night housing’ for up to 18 hours a day and failing to provide animals with adequate shelter from the elements, adequate ventilation, clean cages, and proper feeding. Martin also has a history of disposing of chimpanzees at roadside zoos.
PETA — whose motto reads, in part, that ‘animals are not ours to use in entertainment’ — notes that the repercussions of this music video could be disastrous. Not only does it normalize the disrespect and exploitation of highly intelligent, sensitive primates, it may also increase the black-market demand for endangered great apes as ‘pets,’ which is one of the main forces driving them toward extinction.”
Elsewhere, senior manager of PETA’s Animals in Film and Television department Lauren Thomasson even took a dig at The Offspring’s relevance, stating (via Consequence Of Sound): “There are plenty of things we all miss about the ’90s — but animal exploitation isn’t among them. Every minute [The Offspring’s] video remains online, it risks legitimizing a cruel industry, propping up the exotic-‘pet’ trade, and reversing years of animal advocacy work that has nearly ended the use of chimpanzees in Hollywood.”
The Offspring have yet to respond publicly to the allegations, and for now, the video remains online.
Meanwhile, the song ‘We Never Have Sex Anymore’ features on the band’s recently released comeback album Let The Bad Times Roll.
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