Ad Campaign Targets Primates

Researchers believe billboards will influence monkeys' food choice
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 28, 2011 8:26 AM CDT
Ad Campaign Targets Primates
Monkey see, monkey buy?   (Getty Images)

Sex sells even when the target audience isn't human, according to a primatologist and two ad execs cooking up the first-ever ad campaign aimed at monkeys. The team plans to create two "brands" of food for capuchin monkeys and heavily advertise one in advance to see if advertising will influence the behavior of the monkeys, who have already shown that they understand the concept of money, reports New Scientist.

The two billboards created so far aren't exactly subtle: One features a female monkey displaying her genitals next to the brand's logo, and the other shows the troop's alpha male next to the logo. "They do not have language or culture and they have very short attention spans," explains one of the ad execs. "We really had to strip out any hip and current thinking and get to the absolute core of what is advertising." (More monkeys stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X