With the release of the latest Ant-Man trailer, it looks like the Marvel marketing machine is starting to ratchet up the anticipation for a superhero version of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. But, perhaps fearing that not enough people will be interested in watching Paul Rudd shrink down to the size of an insect, the company has decided to reach out to the key demographic for insect-sized crimefighters: actual insects. Vulture reports that Marvel has begun installing teeny-tiny little Ant-Man billboards around cities in Australia, presumably in the hopes of attracting the one-inch-high-and-smaller moviegoing audience to the film. The billboards are highly detailed, and even have their own battery-powered LED lights to illuminate them at night.
Sharp-eyed humans (who are, as always, quick to get all worked up about something that doesn’t concern them in the slightest) have noticed the diminutive billboards in Queensland, Brisbane, and Melbourne. They’ve been uploading pictures to Reddit, probably because they don’t think ants should be allowed to see films or have advertising of their own. This is a clear case of speciesism, something you’d think we’d have moved beyond—it’s the 21st century, for God’s sake. Ants should be permitted their own billboards. Hath not an ant eyes, sir? Hath not an ant organs, dimensions, senses? If you prick them, do they not bleed? Well, maybe that last one is a bad example, what with the blood lacking any blood vessels or coloration, and their bodies being highly compartmentalized and all, but still. Let them have their Ant-Man billboards. Let freedom ring.
