A day at the office (Courtesy: CareerBuilder.com)

If animal-rights activists, including leading primatologist Jane Goodall, have their way, chimpanzees will be as endangered on Madison Avenue as they claim the animals are in the wild.

The campaigners, which include People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, scientists and primatology researchers, say using chimps as "frivolous subhumans" in advertisements can be linked directly to a common misperception by the public that the animals are not an endangered species, the London Independent reported.

"What is perceived to be harmless fun really has serious consequences," said Stephen Ross, a primatologist at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago and co-author of a study on chimps in advertising in this month's Science.

"The most common reason why people thought that chimps were not in the endangered species category is because they were seen on television, advertisements and movies and must therefore not be in jeopardy," Ross said.

Chimps have long been used successfully in television commercials.

A 2003 British poll ranked the chimps used in PG Tips tea commercials between 1956 and 2002 the favorite ad character of all time.

An ad using a chimp named Kenzie to to demonstrate the usefulness of the website FlyKCI.com to find, book and pay for flights and find prime parking spots at the Kansas City airport, currently being shown on the airport's closed-circuit TV system, has drawn protests from PETA.

PETA member Kristie Phelps told the Kansas City Star her organization opposes the use of any primates for commercial purposes and wants the ad pulled.

"We feel like chimpanzees, orangutans and great apes have no business in show business," Phelps said. "These animals are taken away from their mothers at a young age and changed through domination and beating and forced to act or suffer the consequences. When they grow to be about 8 years old, they're sent off to be bred or sent to sanctuaries, and we have found deplorable situations in pseudo-sanctuaries."

That point was disputed by Connie Casey, who with her husband, James, keeps 20 chimps on a 65-acre preserve outside St. Louis.

"PETA has never been here. They have no idea what kind of facility we have," Casey said. "We love these animals. They're our children."

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Precisely because the chimps appear well-cared for and so acclimated to humans iin commercials, people are misled into believing they're not endangered say the researchers.

They cite a survey of more than 1,000 zoo visitors where 90 percent said gorillas and orang-utans were endangered but only 72 percent said chimps were similarly at risk.

"Of the 250 respondents who were willing to provide explanations for their choice, the most common reason for the category chosen – 35 per cent – was that chimpanzees were commonly seen on television, advertisements and movies and therefore must not be in jeopardy," they said.

The researchers writing in Science have convinced the publishers to withdraw its own series of ads showing chimps reading the journal.

PETA is currently conducting a campaign thanking CareerBuilder.com, the employee-recruitment agency, four announcing an end to its ads featuring chimps-as-humans.

But Kenzie, the Kansas City airport chimp won't be retiring anytime soon.

Joe McBride of the airport's aviation department witnessed the two-day video shoot with Kenzie.

"(Kenzie) seemed to really enjoy the attention, and when Kenzie got tired or was hungry, he had a nap and a snack," McBride said.

Despite the PETA protest, he said the ad would not be pulled.

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