When Advertisers Ads Go Bad A Community Comes Together

*Steps on Soapbox*

*Clears throat* 

I seen something on the internet that lit a fire under my tail and it got my ma and many other people riled up. I am one mad poodle! 

Why am I so mad?? 

Have you seen it? Have you seen the new commercial for GoDaddy? 

It starts out with a little lab puppy falling out of the back of a pickup truck, the pup gets lost and finally finds their way back to their home and as the pup is walking in the door the lady says "I am glad your home Buddy, I just SOLD you on my new Go Daddy site"

So what? Why should I be mad? 

First off, the commercial starts with a small puppy riding in the back of a pickup truck then when the truck hits a bump, the pup being THROWN OUT of the truck onto the side of the road! The truck never stops, never puts its brakes on, never turns around to search for pup. 

Second, it shows the pup navigating through all types of traffic such as railroad tracks, down the side of the road, through the rain till he gets soaked and finds a box to sit in. Scared and lonely.

Third, He finally finds his way home and he is so excited to be there and the lady says "I'm glad your home Buddy, I just sold you on my new website built with GoDaddy" with the next scene of her putting him in a box and then in a van yelling "Ship them out!" 

WHAT!!!??  

Did this breeder not care that she lost her pup or that he was out by himself? To me and apparently many others , that was a breeder who is in it for the money and only the money. 

To some people the commercial means nothing and take it as the spoof on the commercial that features the Budweiser Clydesdale's and their puppies. To many people it meant more. Twitter and Facebook lit up hashtags #NoDaddy #Superbowl from bloggers, rescue people, and even breeders telling GoDaddy to take that ad down. The main thing that people said was it was appalling, disgusting and poor judgement about airing the commercial on TV. Many have started pulling their domains from GoDaddy. I will be moving my domain name after I write this post. I don't want anything to do with promoting puppy mills, backyard breeders or online sales of puppies!  To me it promotes online shippers and puppy mills! How many times have you read a story about someone getting burned by someone who claims they have pups but after they sent the money, no pup was ever sent to the buyer. 

Petitions started to demand that GoDaddy pull the ad before showing it on the #SuperBowl. 

The petition got over 38,000 signatures in just a few hours!!! Before I even finished this post, GODADDY PULLED THE AD!! *Dances around the room* Sorry GoDaddy, you lost a lot of domains and a lot of customers due to your ad.

Here is the ad that was featured so you can see it for yourself.  
Watch GoDaddy Ad

I hope retailers and businesses pay attention to what happened. There is a whole world of people who are there to give voices to those who have no voices. Between us, those animals DO have voices but it takes a special person to hear it. How many pet parents talk to their dogs and cats and swear they know what they are saying with a look, a tail wag or even a purr. Those people hear what their pets say. 

There are many many people who are advocates for animals in shelters , rescues and bad homes. We have the voice and when we team together, we make our point loud and clear! Can you imagine what GoDaddy could have had if they would have maybe had someone who started helping shelters or rescues with their PR and created a site for that shelter or rescue and once they got the animas online and in the publics view their adoption rate soared until they had NO animals or at least a few empty kennels? Sometimes the power of the internet can be the best thing for shelters. Their animals who are searching for homes can be seen from coast to coast. While I was at the Humane Society, we had someone who drove 18 hrs to meet a dog and they fell in love with each other. The person brought all their vet records and numbers to call for verifications, passed the interview part of the application and returned the next morning and took that dog back with them. 

I have nothing against responsible breeders.YES there is such thing but those breeders don't sell their pups online nor do they ship them. They want to meet the person who is adopting one of their pups. There are many purebred dogs in shelters who get euthanized every day. I was once a dog in a rescue and I am a purebred poodle. During my career as a Spokesdog of a no kill shelter, there were many purebred bassetts, beagles, maltese, German shepherds, collies, labs, shih tzu's and cocker spaniels to name a few that came through our doors. They are in homes of their own now but there will be more purebreds that will come through those doors. 

Please check out shelters, rescues or foster rescues (those who don't have a physical address but use fosters to save dogs and cats out of shelters before their time is up) before buying a dog. I wish more people would adopt, foster or even sponsor an animal who is in a shelter. Don't give your money to the HSUS, give it to your LOCAL shelter. 

Now, if you excuse me, I have to go find another domain host. This may have been a way for them to get publicity but I don't want to use a company that does that. 

*steps off soap box*