The Paris Olympics: Sponsored by Cruelty

Get ready, Paris. Action against cruelty just became an Olympic sport, and PETA entities are carrying the torch for animals. The top local sponsor for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics – fashion house LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Dior, and other brands – is a company that peddles accessories made from the skin of violently slaughtered animals.

The last time we checked, the Olympic Games are supposed to represent unity, respect, and excellence – not abuse, torture, and exploitation. PETA entities have repeatedly exposed extreme suffering in LVMH’s supply chain. One PETA Asia investigation into Indonesian slaughterhouses that supply to LVMH revealed that workers bash snakes on the head with a hammer, pump them full of water, and cut off their skin, likely while they’re still conscious. Another PETA Asia investigation into crocodile farms in Vietnam that supplied skins to LVMH revealed thousands of reptiles confined to filthy, cramped concrete pits – some narrower than the length of their own bodies – for up to 15 months. PETA entities have documented that workers in the fashion industry slash crocodiles’ necks and drive metal rods down their spines, chop conscious lizards’ heads off with machetes, and slit ostriches’ throats in full view of their terrified flockmates.

A company like LVMH has no business sponsoring the Olympics – so PETA entities and our supporters around the world are kicking things up a notch.

See how we’re making our mark at the Summer Olympics to speak out against LVMH’s cruelty.

Flag-Painted Activists Unite!

Days before the 2024 Olympic Games commenced, 16 PETA France activists united, each body-painted as a different nation’s flag. The group came together in the Olympic spirit of unity, peace, respect, and friendship to draw attention to the routine mistreatment and exploitation of animals for fur, leather, and feathers – abuse there is no place for anywhere in the world. Holding signs that read, “United Against Cruelty to Animals” and “No Leather, Feathers, or Fur!” in each country’s language, the protesters made a colourful display in Place de la République in the heart of Paris.

Clothilde Tierce

PETA France’s ‘Projection Makeover’ Greets Paris Pre-Olympics Fashion Show

At Paris’ Place Vendôme, where celebrities and designers – including fur hag Pharrell Williams, the men’s creative director for LVMH-owned brand Louis Vuitton – gathered for the Olympics-themed Vogue World fashion show, PETA France did a “project takeover”, beaming an eye-opening projection in behalf of LVMH’s many victims.

The projection – which featured the message “Louis Vuitton: Drop Exotic Skins,” a spoof Olympic Phryge, and shocking investigation footage of humans slaughtering crocodiles – also illuminated the Eiffel Tower and the Louis Vuitton hotel on the Champs-Élysées.

PETA Pins Down LVMH With a Scathing Spoof Olympic Phryge

Playing on the Paris Olympics’ Phryge mascot – based on the traditional Phrygian cap that represents freedom – PETA unveiled our own symbol to call attention to LVMH’s sale of wild animals’ skins.

To honour the long tradition of trading and collecting pins at the Olympics, PETA entities distributed parody pins featuring this image to journalists and commentators ahead of the games.

A Badge of Horror: PETA France Meddles With the Medals

PETA France did some meddling to demonstrate how animals suffer for LVMH’s products. The spoof Olympic medals, which were sent to local reporters and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, depict Arnault standing on a bloody crocodile while holding an axe in one hand and a Louis Vuitton bag in the other.

A ‘Bloody’ ‘Olympic Phryge’ Ignited Controversy at the Olympic Torch Ceremony

Spectators flocked to Marseille to watch the arrival of the Olympic torch, where PETA France’s spoof Phryge disrupted the ceremony with the following message: “The Olympics, Sponsored by Cruelty to Animals”. The parody mascot brandished a “crocodile corpse” in one hand and a “bloody” bag in the other, bearing the message “Louis Vuitton: Stop Using Exotic Skins”.

PETA France’s mascot is following the Olympic torch on its path to Paris and has appeared in two other French cities, Bordeaux and Strasbourg.

Olympic Athletes Compete for Compassion

Unlike LVMH, some of the world’s top athletes are champions in sport and for animals. By promoting kindness to animals, these Olympians show everyone that strength and compassion go hand in hand.

“I feel better [since going vegan]. I’m faster, I’m a bit leaner, and I love it. … All round for me, it’s been such a huge positive change in my life. And I hope that [other] riders will make the change soon.”
– Silver Medallist Anna Henderson, UK

“Every fur coat, collar, and piece of trim represents the miserable life and painful, terrifying death of animals who suffered beyond measure on fur farms. My friends at PETA and I encourage everyone to bundle up in faux fur … rather than in the stolen skins of murdered animals.”

– Wu Dajing, China

“Animals are alive – it’s as simple as that. And life, whoever’s it is, should be treated with much more kindness than we so often grant it.”

– Andy Murray, UK

“The slaughtering of animals and farming and everything, that’s obviously also a huge impact on climate change which maybe people don’t talk about as much. It’s more than a performance reason for me, it’s a lifestyle, it’s something I’m really proud of.”

– Novak Djokovic, Serbia

“Animals on the streets have tough lives, so it’s up to all of us to speak out if we ever witness them being abused. My friends at PETA India and I encourage everyone to treat animals with kindness and respect, just as we all want to be treated every day.”

– Dutee Chand, India

“We must value animal life more because we are also part of life on this planet. Let’s try to pay a little more attention to global warming. It’s not a secret that it’s a reality that hits us with intensity! LET’S TAKE CARE OF OUR MOTHER EARTH.”

– Yulimar Rojas, Venezuela

“I’ve found that a person does not need protein from meat to be a successful athlete. In fact, my best year of track competition was the first year I ate a vegan diet.”

– Carl Lewis, US