The animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals doesn't appear to consider subtlety a virtue in its fight against animal products.
In the graphic PETA Asia video below, unsuspecting shoppers are shown browsing leather goods. But within every purse, glove and jacket is a grisly surprise.
PETA produced the video by setting up a fake storefront called "The Leather Work" in a mall in Bangkok. The animal rights activists then affixed artificial skin and fake organs -- including beating hearts -- inside wallets, jackets, purses, belts and other leather goods. They also put fake blood inside gloves and shoes, allowing unsuspecting shoppers to try them on.
Everything looks scarily real, and the shoppers were understandably horrified. The video is hard to watch, but PETA says drastic times in Southeast Asia call for drastic measures.
In Southeast Asia, the illegal snakeskin industry is booming, much to the dismay of conservationists and animal-welfare advocates. Thailand also has the largest crocodile farming industry in the world, according to the Bangkok Post.
The cultivation of reptile skins can be especially gruesome and inhumane, according to PETA. In the past, the organization has alleged cruel slaughtering practices on crocodile farms, and the group's alarming reports have led the English actress Jane Birkin to demand Hermès rename the coveted crocodile bag bearing her name.
"Every bit of animal skin, no matter how small, represents the intense suffering of all animals who are killed to make clothing," PETA Asia wrote on its website. "Every fur coat, every leather shoe, every snakeskin wallet -- it's all the same because it's their skin, not ours."
The graphic images below drive home that point:
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