PETA sold hunters a macho condom brand — to stop them raising the next hunter

Recreational hunting is typically passed from parent to offspring. PETA and MullenLowe Singapore reasoned that breaking that chain would shrink the sport faster than another protest ad.

Launch HUNTSMAN, a fake macho condom brand whose entire pitch was that the world can't sustain more hunters — so hunters should not reproduce

The agency built HUNTSMAN as a real brand — camouflage packaging, online commercials, social presence and print, with no mention of PETA — and mailed samples to trophy hunters, specialty trade magazines, blogs and hunting organizations, promoting it live at trade shows. On 14 April 2016 PETA revealed the prank.

The stunt ran as a genuine product long enough to reach the hunting community before the reveal, then rolled out globally from APAC across North America, Europe, Africa, India and Asia Pacific. No sales or reach figures were reported.

In April 2016 animal rights group PETA and MullenLowe Singapore revealed that HUNTSMAN — a macho, camouflage-packaged condom brand advertised to the recreational hunting community through online commercials, social media and print — had been a piece of activist theatre. The insight behind it: hunting is usually passed from parent to child, so the way to shrink the sport was to keep the next generation of hunters from being born.

HUNTSMAN launched as a real product with no trace of PETA's branding. Samples went to notorious trophy hunters, specialty trade magazines, blogs and hunting organizations, and the brand was promoted live at trade shows. On 14 April 2016 the group revealed the truth: the condoms 'for hunters' came from an animal rights charity that wanted recreational hunters to stop producing more hunters.

Executive creative director Erick Rosa said PETA had championed the idea and worked with the agency 'hand in hand from day one'; group account director Gonzalo Olivera said the point was to communicate PETA's message in a way worth sharing, loud enough for people to listen. Developed first in the APAC region, the campaign rolled out globally across North America, Europe, Africa, India and Asia Pacific.

The idea weaponizes its own audience: hunters bought into a product built to end their tradition.

It is media-neutral mischief — packaging, sampling and trade shows do the persuading, not a lecture.

The reveal reframes every touchpoint after the fact, so the story spreads twice: once as product, once as prank.

Sell your target audience something they genuinely want, and they opt into your argument before they know whose it is — the reveal turns customers into the audience.

PETA disclosed the stunt on 14 April 2016 and the campaign, first developed for APAC, rolled out worldwide across North America, Europe, Africa, India and Asia Pacific. No sales figures, media reach or measurable change in hunting participation were reported in the source.