Mall of America pulls PETA anti-wool ads posted inside

Animal welfare activists say their advertisements in the Mall of America opposing the wool industry's treatment of lambs were taken down by mall officials.

In response to the mall's actions, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) staged a protest on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis for early Tuesday afternoon, with three nearly naked activists portraying for many passersby how they say sheep appear when handled by the wool industry.

The eight poster ads, with "I am not" in large type, supported by a smaller phrase reading, "a sweater, a scarf or a 'lamb chop,' " went up on Dec. 1 for what was to be a one-month run. They sported a photo of healthy lambs and described how PETA exposed alleged animal mistreated by wool producers.

They were located outside Nordstrom, Sears, Macy's and elsewhere in the mall in hopes of catching the attention of the hundreds of thousands of holiday shoppers at the mall in Bloomington, where clothing made of wool is amply available for purchase.

However, the ads came down on Dec. 15, "apparently because of complaints," PETA campaign coordinator Amber Canavan said Tuesday.

A mall spokeswoman has yet to address the nature of the complaints. Requests to speak with a mall official about the ads have so far not been granted.

The ads were placed in the mall by Outfront Media. Its spokeswoman, Carly Zipp, said, "We typically run all of our ads by Mall of America before they post, and this one was not seen by them nor approved by them prior to posting."

A statement issued by the mall late Tuesday morning through its spokeswoman said it "will make every effort to ensure a situation like this does not happen in the future."

Canavan said that "the image on the ad certainly is not shocking. These are cute little lambs. ... The ad is pleasant to look at."

PETA heard about the complaints through Outfront Media, Canavan said. She added that it "sounded like [both] retailers and customers" had objected to the explicit description of what PETA says the wool industry is doing to lambs.

The lamb ad is part of a larger national campaign, Canavan said. Similar messages in Little Rock, Ark., directed at the poultry industry, and in Dallas targeting beef producers have been delivered without a problem, Canavan said.

However, ads about lizards being used for fashion were rejected in Boston and New York, she said.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482