Zoo wants company to stop using chimps in TV ads

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo says there's nothing funny about a commercial featuring suit-and-tie wearing chimpanzees scheduled to air Sunday during the Super Bowl.

Steven Ross, assistant director of the zoo's Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, says CareerBuilder.com's commercial showing chimps outsmarting a human co-worker actually poses a risk to chimpanzees because people lose sight of the fact they're an endangered species and become less likely to help save them.

Ross has made this pitch every year the company featured chimps in commercials but now he's hoping a recent Duke University study supporting his argument might help turn public opinion against the commercials.

The Chicago-based company only says the chimps in the commercial were treated humanely. The company also says the ads are effective.