Sprint Nextel to Stop Using Apes in Ads Campaign

Sprint Nextel Corp. said on Thursday, company’s will no longer use great apes in its advertisements after animal rights activists complained about their ads campaign the wireless provider. “Sprint and its advertising agency, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, take all necessary precautions to ensure any animals appearing in Sprint advertising are taken care of and are treated well,” the company said in a concise avowal posted on its Web site, but company’s spokesman declined further comment.

The ads campaign, predestined to give confidence theatergoers to turn off their cell phones or any gadgets before the movie, features a chimp movie star and his agent negotiating over the phone with producers for a part in a film, the organization said it didn’t have evidence the chimpanzee used in Sprint’s ads campaign had been abused.