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PETA Gets Gruesome With 'Influencer Video' Targeting Hermès Birkin Bags
DIY = Dismember It Yourself
*** Some viewers might find this video upsetting. ***
Two weeks ago, an influencer named Erika Makes joined YouTube and shared a DIY clip about making Hermès Birkin bags at home.
Here, however, “DIY” stands for dismember it yourself, and refers to Erika’s URL.
Below, she walks us through her disturbing method of handbag creation by chopping apart a faux crocodile. Again, not for the faint of heart. There’s blood and a very realistic wriggling puppet, too.
“Dismember It Yourself” was directed by Dave Meyers, with The Community driving creative development. PETA seeks to start a conversation about how Birkin bags are produced.
There’s even this BTS making of the vid that PETA posted to Instagram:
“PETA has been urging Hermes to drop exotic skins for more than a decade, putting pressure on the company to stop the production of these exotic animal skin products and replace them with vegan materials instead,” says agency SVP, ECD Ricky Vior. “The brief was to expose the truth behind fashion’s use of exotic skins with a conceptual piece that is meant to confront, disturb, and question the ethics of status symbols built on suffering and cruelty.”
“Sourcing the right crocodile was a challenging process,” continued Vior. “We needed it to match the real size of a 3-year-old crocodile and look so realistic, people might question if it’s real. Together Dave Meyers and RadicalMedia explored various materials and fabrication techniques. Using a taxidermized crocodile was never an option, as it would send the wrong message. Instead, the team at RadicalMedia developed a highly realistic rubber model. To bring it to life, we enlisted a film puppeteer to create natural movement on set. Finally, the team at Harbor enhanced the creature with detailed textures and realistic eye motion using CGI.”
