GRIZZLY GAFFE
Citroen ad starring World Cup referee Nigel Owens and fake bear goes viral after being blasted for ‘animal abuse’
A CAR ad starring Rugby World Cup referee Nigel Owens and a fake bear has been blasted for 'animal abuse'.
The Citroen commercial shows the no-nonsense official come across the clearly fake animal when behind the wheel of the new C5 Aircross SUV.
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The Welsh referee then goes about taming the wild beast by giving it a haircut and some salmon canapes.
He even gives the bear a quick cello lesson, before the pair drive off in matching tuxedos.
While the bear is clearly an actor dressed in a costume, some people have criticised the ad for promoting animal abuse.
Katie Marshall, an 18-year-old classical singer, said on Twitter: "Very concerned and sad to see Citroen UK and Nigel Owens using a bear to advertise their cars.
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"This is wrong on every level and promotes the use of animals to perform demeaning and unnatural tricks to entertain the public."
The British singer finishes the tweet by tagging animal rights activist and president of the Born Free Foundation Will Travers.
But it didn't take long for Owens to defend the light-hearted ad.
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He said on Twitter: "Kate with all due respect, please use a bit of common sense.
"It's a man in a bear suit.
"I would never involve myself in anything like this if it was a real bear.
"You'll be telling us not to support the wonderful Children in Need charity because of Pudsey Bear."
The original tweet has since been deleted, but screen grabs of it have been liked more than 33,000 times.
Some users have slammed the accusations, with one person tweeting: "Dear God this is peak Twitter."
Another joked: "Bears are perfectly capable of defending themselves."
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A spokesman for Citroen said: "What you see on screen is an actor inside an animatronic suit.
"The film is intended to highlight New Citroën C5 Aircross SUV’s civilised character in a fun and light-hearted way.
"We can assure everyone that no bears were used in the making of this video."
Rugby ref lays down the law