Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images
- PETA urged British paint company Farrow & Ball to rename paint colors like "Au Lait."
- The nonprofit singled out several paint color names saying they "normalize animal exploitation."
- Farrow & Ball's paints aren't tested on animals, and are mostly vegan.
Animal rights nonprofit People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, has urged a British paint company to rename some of its colors to be more "vegan-friendly."
The provocative organization sent an open letter to Farrow & Ball objecting to paint names like "Dead Salmon" and "Smoked Trout," which they said "normalize exploiting animals."
PETA's vice president of corporate projects, Yvonne Taylor, wrote that "renaming animal product-monikered paints would be a fun way to appeal to more conscious consumers."
Founded in 1946, Farrow & Ball is known for its upscale and largely sustainable paint colors and wallpapers.
Costing up to about $160 a gallon, it's been lampooned by SNL for its aspirational status, and was profiled by The New Yorker in 2019 as "creating a new kind of decorating anxiety."
It's also known for its evocative and sometimes unusual paint names.
These include "Arsenic" and "Churlish Green" — as well as a handful of names referencing animals and animal products.
Those are the ones that PETA has taken offense to.
"Au Lait" and "Skimmed Milk White," the organization said, "normalize exploiting cows."
Meanwhile, it suggested that "Dead Salmon" — a pinkish taupe — could be renamed "Magic Mushroom."
PETA is notorious for seizing headlines with outlandish stunts — and often takes aim at much more boisterous figures than a sedate British paint company.
In 2023, its cofounder, Ingrid Newkirk, said she was considering sending Elon Musk part of her heart after her death, "because I don't think he has one," she told Rolling Stone.
A year earlier, the NGO called on Gordon Ramsay's kids to disown him following a video in which he picked out a goat for slaughter.
Farrow & Ball did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
According to its website, the company's paints are environmentally sustainable and "cruelty-free," with none tested on animals.
Eight of its most commonly-used finishes are completely vegan, it says, while two specialist finishes use animal products such as leather offcuts and a milk derivative.