Real-Life Bugs and Insects Magazine

[Gorilla]

i don't think Advertising Standards can do anything about the product, it's only if the advert is misleading that they'll listen, and i seem to remember the advert makes it pretty clear they're real dead insects.

[Hannah2011]

I am really disgusted to see this murdering of animals for the entertainment of people. I am going to reply to the Natural History Museum that their "justification" for this killing does not hold up - it does not provide anything that could be classed as validly educational, this is devaluing the life of other species and teaching children and adults that is it fine to exploit and kill non-human life for our entertainment. There is no justification whatsoever, it is a cheap and dispicable marketing ploy. If the Natural History Museum cared at all about the natural world they would be encouraging something more along the lines of a decent magazine printed on recycled paper which advocates and teaches respect for other life forms. A DVD could have been provided (or access to a website - to avoid the extra plastic involved in the production of DVDs) which contained close up footage of the creatures in their natural environment, showing how they live and with information about protecting their habitat and general conservation information. This would be truly educational, we only need to see the work of David Attenborough to realise how breathtakingly beautiful and astonishing film can be, a corpse of a creature that has been murdered and encased in a plastic block is a really nasty thing to be producing.

I am also going to write to the Advertising Standards Agency as I was told in a media law lecture that the ASA actually pulled an advert from the TV which they had received complaints about - the advert was for Irn Bru and featured a cow saying "when I am a burger I want to be washed down wirh Irn Bru" - so if this is true (I only know what my lecturer told us and assumed they were correct) it is worth all of us complaining.

I had another idea which was to print off a letter / few paragraphs and go to all the shops in the area who are selling this magazine and stick a copy inside each magazine. Also write to the shop proprietors maybe saying I will boycott their store unless they remove it from the shelves.

[Glen Lambert]

You do know dates back to 2007, don't you?

[twinkle]

Glen - it's being advertised again.

[Glen Lambert]

Is it indeed. I don't watch much TV.

[twinkle]

I don't have a TV, but I saw it round a friend's house. He commented on how off it was that they show the beetle voluntarily walking into what turns into a solid lump of plastic, since it made it look like the insects are raring to be smothered in it :(

[aye]

This is just shameful, its unnecessary and unbelieveably disgusting to promote this. When we learned biology at school we used modern technology and I learned just as much as what I would have if live creatures had been used. We dont need to see physical 'specimins' - this is a modern world, we have amazing technology but these stone age idiots keep dragging us back. I wrote off to and if their standard reply comes through i'll fire off another email again until Im satisfied. (I can be quite persistent!) :p

[ElleV108]

wow this is terrible - i've never seen the ad (i assume being in the US may have something to do with it ? haha) but I will send a complaint email tonight after I get off work!