Video: No (invisible) monkeys were harmed in the making of this Dodge commercial

Ah yes. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. We here at Autoblog happen to be all for the ethical treatment of animals. And we're people... allegedly. But we're certainly not all fully in tune with the fine men and women that make up PETA. And we also happen to think that PETA sometimes goes a wee bit too far in their efforts to make man equal to beast... or is that the other way around?

In any case, PETA was apparently none too pleased by a recent commercial from Dodge touting a new promotion that included a chimpanzee named Suzie and a purposefully deadpan narrative from Michael C. Hall. In response to pressure from PETA, Dodge digitally altered its advertisement. Interestingly enough, it got way funnier in the process. Kudos, Dodge.

You're going to want to click on past the break to see the before and after videos... trust us. You'll also find the official letter from PETA asking Dodge to discontinue all the *ahem* monkey business. Sorry, couldn't help ourselves.

[Source: LA Times via Jalopnik]

Before:

The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience.

After:

The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience.

PETA's letter to Dodge:

Most top ad agencies in the country won't even consider producing an ad featuring a great ape these days given the well-documented abuse that young chimpanzees and orangutans suffer in the entertainment industry. This abuse starts when they are prematurely removed from their mothers and continues when they are trained to perform through savage beatings, denied even the most basic necessities, transported and housed in barren steel cages, and then discarded at seedy roadside zoos around the age of 8, even though they can live into their 60s. You won't find a great-ape trainer without a history of Animal Welfare Act violations and a reputation for dumping animals when they're no longer profitable. After watching a video narrated by Anjelica Huston about the use of great apes in entertainment, savvy ad agencies such as BBDO, Young & Rubicam, Grey Group, Draftfcb, and Saatchi & Saatchi made the compassionate decision not to exploit great apes in future ads. Dodge isn't going to dodge a bullet on this one. It needs to pull the ad - and we've contacted the company asking it to do just that.