Animal rights are not high on the priority list of most Chinese consumers. It is not necessary because they don’t care; most people are simply unaware of the animal sufferings. Through the artistic interpretation of the animal’s pain, we want to get the public to face the horror. The art show interacted with the consumers and gave them a firsthand opportunity to feel the pain of the animals’ sufferings. The experience was spread even further through the help of a few celebrity volunteers. The result was a tenfold increase of the participants in the conversation about putting a stop of the fur trade’s cruelty against the animals.

By engaging with the consumer first hand in locations where fur demand is high, the show has managed to lower the guard of the viewer and get the message across loud and clear. Viewers were then encouraged to make a pledge against fur through our website by signing up with their Weibo account. The message was spread even further through the engagement of social media, video site and celebrity endorsements.

The ‘Fur Hurts’ website has more than 137,700 page views. 5 mainstream TV stations, 30 digital media, covered the event and the coverage was reposted on 40 famous Chinese artists’ personal sites. We have also received more than 80,000 Weibo pledges against buying fur and the Weibo pledge was forwarded over 40,000 times in the first week which was 40 times our target.