Black Friday may be American retail's biggest shopping day of the year, but the day after Thanksgiving also marks Fur-Free Friday.
With hundreds of fur-free PETA protests scheduled around the world this year, animals rights activists will tout the message that wearing fur fuels a deadly and inhumane industry that is far from glamorous.
**Scroll down for EXPLICIT photos of past anti-fur PETA ads**
In 2010 the U.S. retail fur sales hit $1.3 billion, a 3.1% increase from 2009, according to the Fur Information Council Of America.
The Humane Society writes, "On fur factory farms around the world, millions of raccoon dogs, rabbits, foxes, mink, chinchillas, and other animals spend their lives in wire cages, only to be killed by anal electrocution, by neck-breaking, or in gas chambers."
When people learn that millions of innocent animals are beaten, boiled, hanged, and electrocuted for their fur every year; that each fur coat, each piece of fur lining or fur trim, and each fur cat toy represents the intense suffering of dozens of animals; and that furriers intentionally mislabel the fur of cats and dogs as fur from other species or as faux fur -- then every decent human being will want to go fur-free.
To raise the profile of the anti-fur message, PETA's iconic campaign, "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" has attracted a number of high profile celebrities to strip down in support of animal rights. Elisabetta Canalis is one of the most recent and memorable celebrities to bare it all for the animal rights organization.
With her billboards posted in Milan since September, Canalis explained to PETA her reason for posing nude:
"That is what is required to keep people's attention on such a brutal practice," she said. "These poor animals are electrocuted, skinned alive, drowned, and bludgeoned just for the sake of fashion."
Other eyebrow-raising images of celebrities posing for PETA include Khloe Kardashian's "I'd Rather Go Naked" ad, Chad Ochocinco's "Ink Not Mink" ad and Laura Vandervoort's "What Skin Are You In?" ad.
If you're heading to the malls this Black Friday, many would suggest skipping the animal skinned fashion in exchange for some cruelty-free clothing instead.
In celebration of Fur-Free Friday, see some of PETA's most memorable anti-fur ads below (WARNING: Some images may be considered explicit and NSFW):
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