PETA uses Paris to denounce the treatment of animals, targeting Olympic partner LVMH. PETA

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in France has projected a video onto the Eiffel Tower and other iconic landmarks in the French capital. The video shows the results of an investigation into the mistreatment of animals for their skins. PETA is targeting parent companies such as Louis Vuitton, Dior and Fendi directly.

PETA France has recently stepped up its activities in Paris with a campaign against Olympic partner LVMH. One of its actions is to project a video onto key and iconic locations in the French capital, including Place Vendôme, during a star-studded Vogue fashion event attended by celebrities and fashion designers, including Pharrell Williams, the creative director of Louis Vuitton, which is owned by LVMH. The projected message reads "Louis Vuitton: Drop Exotic Skins", a parody of the official Olympic mascot, and shocking investigative footage of crocodiles being slaughtered.

At the Vogue World event on 24 June, which celebrates fashion and sport, PETA France disrupted the event to say: "Animal cruelty is neither chic nor in line with the Olympic values of friendship, respect and excellence". The provocative projection also lit up the Eiffel Tower and the Louis Vuitton Hotel on the Champs-Élysées.

"If extreme animal cruelty were an Olympic sport, Paris 2024 premium partner LVMH-the parent company of Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Fendi-might take home a gold medal for selling the skins of violently slaughtered crocodiles, snakes, ostriches, and other wild animals," said Mimi Bekhechi, PETA's Vice President for Europe. "The world is watching, and consumers need to know that the Olympics are being funded with blood money. Every time you buy something made from someone's skin, you are funding immense animal suffering," Bekhechi added.

The projection includes graphic images. The footage from PETA Asia's investigation shows crocodiles bleeding to death as workers at a slaughterhouse linked to Louis Vuitton allegedly open their necks and jam metal rods into their spines while the animals are still alive.

PETA has projected its protests onto iconic landmarks in Paris. PETA
PETA has projected its protests onto iconic landmarks in Paris. PETA

According to PETA sources, the investigation revealed that around 5,000 crocodiles were being kept in small concrete pens - some narrower than the length of their bodies - at a Louis Vuitton supplier. Snakes and ostriches have also been the subject of PETA investigations into the treatment they endure before their skins are turned into human clothing.

PETA opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview, and its motto reads in part "Animals are not ours to wear".

In early March, PETA activists disrupted Paris Fashion Week by storming the runway for Victoria Beckham's autumn-winter collection, holding signs that read "Celebrate vegan leather" and wearing shirts that read "Turn your back on animal skins" or "Animals are not fabric".