An American car manufacturer which dressed a monkey as motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel for an advert has found an answer to animal rights campaigners' fears - by making the chimp dis-ape-ear.
The Dodge advert, which aired on US television earlier this month, showed the jumpsuit-clad monkey pushing down a detonator in celebration of a sales event, much to the dismay of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), the Daily Mail reports.
Dodge however, decided to ignore PETA's request to axe the advert. Instead, their impudent response was to digitally remove the monkey - and only the monkey - from the ad, which now shows an apparently empty jumpsuit walking over and activating the plunger.
The original contained a voiceover - spoken by Dexter actor Michael C Hall - pondering what could be more amazing than Dodge's 'Tent Event'.
But while the ad used to end with Hall adding "Oh wait, there's a monkey. I stand corrected", the new invisible chimp version has Hall dead-panning "Oh wait, there's an invisible monkey. Unbelievable".
Dodge Spokeswoman Kristin Starnes said that the company had no intention of distressing animal lovers, and stressed that there was no monkey mistreatment at any point.
"The ad was an innocent act only trying to be humorous", she told the Los Angeles Times.
And the tongue-in-cheek edit was taken in good spirit by PETA, who praised Dodge for taking its concerns seriously.
Spokesperson Julia Gallucci said: "We at PETA have enjoyed Dodge's recent incarnation of the ad and are thrilled that Dodge has pledged never again to use great apes in its advertisements."
