As regular readers of this blog will know, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk is a huge fan of Formula 1 racing. Which means that she is incredibly knowledgeable about things like who has the best pit crew or which motor oil is better. Well, with the nation focused on dogfighting right now following the Michael Vick indictment, a Castrol Motor Oil ad that has been running on SPEED TV which appears to glorify the blood sport has been rightly upsetting a lot of animal lovers. Here's what Ingrid wrote to the company:

"As you know, Michael Vick, NIKE, and the NFL are in the deserved hot seat now for not immediately resigning, pulling ads, and pulling Mr. Vick, respectively. Your ad is "a fight to the death" in a back alley. Everyone realizes that cars don't fight to the death, dogs are made to. It has a sign saying "FIGHT" on the makeshift fence and on your site it refers to it as the "sickest" contest. … I have used your product for decades, even loved smelling it in the old days at the racetrack before synthetics came along, and hate to see a furor over Castrol. Thank you.
Ingrid Newkirk, President, PETA"

After Ingrid contacted Castrol about the ad, the company immediately responded by assuring us that that while their ad agency was thinking "boxing match," they recognized that the imagery associated with the text implied a dogfight, and they're already working to revise their commercial so that no one will get the impression that dogfighting is something to be anything other than horrified by. With the massive attention to this issue that Vick's case has created, I'm hoping that this will be just one in a long chain of events that will see the blood sport condemned, prosecuted, and ultimately wiped out for good. Thanks, Castrol, for doing the right thing—and thanks to everyone who contacted us about this.

Ingrid_racing.JPG



Comments


I'm a african american, and it saddens me what Michael Vick did to those dogs. Please do not use culture what Mr. Vick did to those dogs, he's just a sick man. I will not judge Mr Vick, God will do this, spell dog backwards, you come up with "GOD"!!!!

Posted by: simeon mcclain | July 26, 2007 08:34 PM

I never thought I'd be saying this, but now I know which motor oil to buy. Thanks!

Posted by: Maya | July 27, 2007 03:00 PM

I like to hear such news and many thanks to Peta and all the people involved and of course Castrol!!!!

Posted by: Sancho | July 27, 2007 03:06 PM

You guys go way over board. People dont think about dogfighting when they hear that. There are much more important things you guys could be doing than attacking well know people just to get money. Get a life losers. People are way more important than animals.

Posted by: PETASUCKS | July 28, 2007 04:54 PM

dog fighting must be stopped no matter who does it or what color they are and michael vick is just the tip of the iceberg i dont associate michael vick with a color just his terrible treatment of dogs

Posted by: melanie | July 29, 2007 03:16 AM

I am SO glad to hear this I didn't see the commercial but I do use Castol oil and I would have stopped, THANKS Castrol I will recommend you to everyone ! And thanks Peta

Posted by: nj | July 29, 2007 11:05 AM

THANK YOU, INGRID, and CASTROL MOTOR OIL!

Posted by: Ariel | July 30, 2007 06:57 AM

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The views expressed here are those of the author alone, are subject to change, and may not represent the views of PETA. They are being provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Except where third party ownership or copyright is indicated or credited regarding materials contained in this blog, copying, reproduction, or redistribution of any of the documents, data, content, or materials contained in this weblog for personal, noncommercial use is enthusiastically encouraged.

 
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