ST: Ant spot temporarily taken off the grid
Switzerland Tourism has temporarily removed the ant commercial featuring Martin Horat from its platform on the advice of the FOEN. An animal rights activist had filed a complaint alleging that the ants were being disturbed. Martin Horat thinks that’s «nonsense.».
He does not understand the measure, said the Muotathal weather prophet on Wednesday at the request of the SDA news agency. The animal rights activists were going too far. "Then you wouldn't be allowed to drive ants out of the house either", said Horat. He has been making forecasts on anthills for a few years now. Back in 2004, Horat sat on an anthill for the filming of "Wetterschmöcker". "The animals are happy when I come." They are very affectionate and climb up on him.
The Clip was no longer available in the meantime. As reported by the Aargauer Zeitung and Südostschweiz newspapers on Wednesday, Switzerland Tourism took the advertisement showing Horat sitting on an anthill off the internet at the request of the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). The reason for this was a complaint from a concerned animal rights activist. She had complained that the "weatherman" was sitting on the red ants, which are a protected species. Martin Horat denies this: These are black ants, he told the SDA.
Nicole Diermeier, Head of Marketing at Switzerland Tourism, also sees no violation of animal welfare regulations. "If it had been red ants, we would have stopped the commercial immediately," she said on Wednesday. A permit had been obtained for the filming and use of the anthill. The "Wetterschmöcker" had been working with the anthill in question for some time. "We filmed the commercial last spring in Horat's forest near Rothenthurm."
Diermeier said that the temporary stop of the advertisement on the internet platform was a "goodwill action". They had not been forced by the Bafu to take the ad off the net. "No legal action was taken." They had only complied with a request from the federal government.
Online again
Nicole Diermeier from Switzerland Tourism said that the ad would be shown again on Wednesday afternoon. The company had sought talks with the Federal Office for the Environment on Wednesday and expressed its intention to continue using the commercial in the future.
Adrian Aeschlimann from the Federal Office for the Environment confirmed that the parties were able to reach an agreement. "The situation has been reassessed," he said. Certain anthills are worth protecting. "But we don't believe that people will imitate this spot and sit on anthills more often." (SDA)
