Animal rights group PETA has today (19 October) released ‘Beware the Octocurse’, a powerful parody film which aims to end the consumption of octopi and alert the public to the wider dangers of octopus farming.
Created by WPP-owned Grey London, the awareness campaign is centred around a 90-second spot which humorously emulates 1970s science-fiction films. In the clip, people who eat octopus subsequently befall the ‘octocurse’, and slowly begin to turn into cephalopods.
On a more serious note, the campaign reminds people of the high level of intelligence that octopi possess – and shines a light on inhumane farming practices, where the creatures are held in small, cramped tanks before being killed.
“We are busily searching for intelligent life in space while we still eat the thinking, feeling life forms on our own planet,” PETA anti-specieism project leader, Vanessa Johansson said.
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“Octopuses, for example, are capable of complex thought processes: they can navigate mazes, use tools, and learn how to do such things as unscrew lids simply by watching.
She continued: “Yet every year, hundreds of thousands of these clever cephalopods are killed in crude ways for a snack. Because it’s often hard to reach people with these simple facts, PETA has partnered with Grey London – to give viewers food for thought and encourage them to show kindness to these animals by leaving them off their plates.”
Grey London executive creative director, David Wigglesworth added: “PETA wanted one thing…for people to stop eating octopus. It’s a serious brief that we tackled with a silly answer; by creating a very ‘real’ curse.
“And that curse? If you eat one of these creatures, you will turn into one. An idea as dark and dumb as this needed one man to bring it to life, my fiendishly funny friend Jeff Low. Huge thanks to him and Biscuit for helping us realise this madness. Stay Human people. Don’t eat Octopus.”
