The original 60 second advertisement shows a young boy approaching a dog lying in the snow on a blanket outside its wooden kennel, which is decorated with Christmas lights.Everyone say 'Ahhhhh'...
The boy then hangs a stocking over the kennel and walks away toward the lighted, warm home - leaving the dejected dog, a Deerhound, staring back at him as he leaves.Everyone say 'Ahhhhh', again.
Oh, wait. You at the back! What the hell are you saying?
The commercial, which first aired earlier this month after ITV1's X Factor, then finished with the message: “For those who care about showing they care.”
It featured a rendition of “Your Song” by Ellie Goulding and was set to run for five weeks in conjunction with two other 30-second adverts.
But the advertisement, created by advertising agency Adam & Eve, sparked anger among animal welfare campaigners and angry customers who accused John Lewis of “sending the wrong message” to children.Sending the wrong....? The hell you say?
Julie Hill, from DogCast Radio, that is based in Stretton Hills, Shropshire, set up a Facebook site “stop the John Lewis Christmas Ad”.Oh, my stars and garters, are you kidding me? Julie, sweetie, don't you have a life?
“Dogs belong in the house with their people – not out in the snow in a ramshackle, doorless, bare kennel – even if it is adorned with fairy lights,” she wrote.
Mrs Hill complained to the chain, the Advertising Standards Agency and the Dogs Trust.Good grief, where does she think a lot of working dogs - and a fair few family pets -live? For real?
It's outdoors, and they don't get fairy lights because they'd chew right through them and electrocute themselves!
It's an advert, FFS! And the beast in question is a deerhound, not a Mexican hairless. Not exactly unadapted to the rigours of a (comparatively mild) UK winter.
It seems John Lewis don't feel much like swimming against the tide of stupid on this one. Can anyone blame them?
After originally defending the advertisement, a John Lewis spokeswoman admitted it had been changed following complaints.
“During the process of editing shorter ads, which continues once the initial 60-second ad has aired, we will always choose the scenes which work best,” she said.
“It is apparent that some people don't like the scene with the dog and we have used this opportunity to include other scenes that we shot but haven't yet used.
“We have taken the views of dog owners and dog welfare groups into consideration when editing our 30-second versions.”
5 comments:
Oh dear, Julia. Dogs are either working dogs or pets. This creature is meant to be a pet. Therefore the child walking away is in itself a depiction of a callous act. Advert or not, if pornography is depicted is that ok, "just an advert?".
The ad presents as normal a situation that should be unacceptable. Yes, some dogs live outside, many in far worse conditions than those shown in the ad. Doesn't make it right.
Many people would not know that only certain dog breeds can endure very low temperatures. A greyhound for instance left out like that would probably die.
I believe that the Dogs' Trust condemned the ad.... I wouldn't label that organisation as 'stupid'.
I'm thinking of starting an open season on idiot people, it's a target rich environment.
Not only do dogs that have been raised outside prefer the outside (human dwellings stink too much and have a distinct lack of fresh air at a good humidity level) but also, properly kept kennels are not cold and wet -- they are warm, and lined with straw,blankets etc.
So ironically those people are complaining about something that dogs themselves prefer.
Btw, oldrightie, this ideas of yours that working animals are not as 'worthy' as pets is callous bunk usually spouted by 'animal lovers' who have this messed up idea that if they are nice to a working animal, slaughter turns to murder and they find eating animals easier if they are just anonymous, impersonally raised blobs.
Their 'compassion' is nothing but lazy cowardice and a selfish, pompous illusion of righteousness.
" This creature is meant to be a pet."
And yet many pet dogs do indeed live outside. It's reality.
"Advert or not, if pornography is depicted is that ok, "just an advert?"."
This van hardly be compared to pornography!
"The ad presents as normal a situation that should be unacceptable."
'Should be'? Why?
"I believe that the Dogs' Trust condemned the ad.... I wouldn't label that organisation as 'stupid'."
No, quite calculating in their leap aboard this particular bandwagon.
"I'm thinking of starting an open season on idiot people, it's a target rich environment."
"... ironically those people are complaining about something that dogs themselves prefer."
It's anthropomorphism. Too many people forget that they are animals, not little humans in fur coats...
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