by jase on Thu Mar 25, 2004 4:28 pm
I'd say how bad this is depends a lot on the definition of "children" here.
If the kids are 4 or 5, then yes I completely agree this is sick, and can only serve to frighten.
However, if they hand these out to 10-12 year olds or older, it could be useful depending on your point of view. This is just the time when youngsters start to become radicalised politically, and whether you agree with the ethics or not, this group are the right age to be influenced by a campaign such as this. The problem, however, is that by this time the tone of the leaflet is patronising to this age group so probably wouldn't go down too well.
I'm tempted to say that the parents who are still insistent on wearing fur probably deserve all they get, but it still doesn't excuse the actions of this organisation if they are passing these flyers to very young children.
Shock tactics do work in getting points across (Northern Ireland's anti-drink driving TV ads are a case in point) but these don't seem to be very well thought out. However, I think just publicising the "sting" isn't helpful either as it itself trivialises some important moral debates.