From the Snopes:
> Some viewers took the video a little too literally, however, and were surprised at Koko's pithy and timely exhortation to heed the perils of global warming. But nothing about the video indicates that Koko can actually entertain, much less communicate to humans, thoughts about environmentalism.
Personally I never took it literally. I saw the video and knew right away it was just a marketing stunt, but that didn't mean I suddenly thought research into ape intelligence and language should stop. I do wish they had made it more clear that it was just a stunt because I'm sure people like you felt mislead.
I am still fascinated with Koko and the brains of great apes! Also fascinating that they've never asked a question but at least one grey parrot has. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_(parrot)#cite_note-jordan...
There's some interesting reading here (the section and the page generally):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_ape_language#Criticism_a...
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Regarding:
> I do wish they had made it more clear that it was just a stunt because I'm sure people like you felt mislead.
People like me felt like "what the hell was that?", maybe :D
The more you look into Penny Patterson's claims, the more you go "what the hell?"
misled
thanks I probably misspell that one a lot
You're not alone ... the whole world has forgotten how to spell "led" ever since spell checkers came into existence. It's a pet peeve and a common error, making its way even into the most prestigious publications.