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The enormous critical and popular success of American Hi-Fi’s 2001 debut single, "Flavor of the Weak," shot the band into the spotlight almost as quickly as it was written off by many as nothing more than a one-hit wonder. However, the 2003 release of The Art of Losing not only reintroduced the band members to that same adoration—and caused many of the nonbelievers to eat their words—but also worked to stabilize a fan base that always dug them for what they were from the start—a pop-punk band that has the ability to keep its infectious riffs and lyrics swirling through your head for days on end.
We were thrilled that PETA2 had the opportunity to get to know the members of American Hi-Fi this past summer, when we tabled during their tour with Matchbox Twenty and Sugar Ray. But when the whole band agreed to star in an anti-vivisection print ad for us, we were ecstatic. The ad features a photograph of the band and reads, "100% Cruelty-Free—We Don’t Buy Products That Are Tested on Animals."
On the July afternoon that American Hi-Fi was slated to play the Virginia Beach Amphitheater, located near PETA’s headquarters in Norfolk, we caught up with the group for a quick photo shoot. We picked up guitarist-singer Stacy Jones, former drummer for Veruca Salt and Letters to Cleo, guitarist Jamie Arentzen, bassist Drew Parsons, and drummer Brian Nolan at the venue and carted them off to the Haunted Fun House, a favorite beach tourist attraction.
PETA’s staff photographer escorted the guys to the back of the building, where we took a few quick shots of them in a dim hallway—in which we could hear the piercing screams of that day’s haunted-house victims—that would yield us the great photograph that we chose to use for the ad. We hope that both American Hi-Fi fans and music lovers alike will take the ad’s message to heart, because many people don’t realize that even in the year 2003, animals are still being subjected to painful experiments all for the sake of vanity.
Testing household and beauty products on animals is not required by law. Yet every year, thousands of animals suffer in cruel blinding and poisoning tests for consumer products. They have bleach dripped into their eyes, are force-fed shampoo, are burned under sun-lamps to test sunscreen formulas, and are even put in inhalation chambers where they are forced to breathe in aerosol sprays. Every time you shop, you vote for or against cruelty to animals. Thankfully, hundreds of companies have abandoned abusive product tests on animals and are using the thousands of known-safe ingredients and the reliable sophisticated alternative tests available. Non-animal tests have less variation and are generally faster and less expensive than the animal tests that they replace and improve upon. Please visit PETA2’s "Looking Good Cruelty-Free" section to see which companies do and which do not test on animals and to obtain a list of today’s best non-animal-tested products.
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Click on the image to see a larger version of the ad, which will run in various music publications. If you would like to place this ad in your ’zine or school paper, please e-mail here for an ad.
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