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After a huge backlash from animal lovers all over the country, GoDaddy has pulled its Super Bowl ad featuring a “lost puppy.”
The ad shows a cute, fluffy Golden Retriever puppy named Buddy in the back of a truck. He then falls out of the truck and tries to follow it. When he finally makes it back to his owner, it’s revealed that she was going to sell him online using GoDaddy.
After the ad was released, angry viewers started a Change.org petition.
The petition says“essentially, Go Daddy is encouraging private breeding/puppy mills while shelter animals wait patiently for their forever homes or worse — to be euthanized. They are also encouraging purchasing an animal online…Animal rights are no laughing matter, and to portray them as such is cruel and irresponsible.”
Over 42,000 people signed the petition.
According to Adweek, Tuesday night GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving announced they would not air the commercial.
Thank you @animalrescuers for the candid feedback. What should have been a fun and funny ad clearly missed the mark and we will not air it.
— Blake Irving (@Blakei) January 27, 2015
GoDaddy posted on its website a response after it pulled the ad.
It said in part: “At the end of the day, our purpose at GoDaddy is to help small businesses around the world build a successful online presence. We hoped our ad would increase awareness of that cause. However, we underestimated the emotional response. And we heard that loud and clear. The net result? We are pulling the ad from the Super Bowl. You’ll still see us in the Big Game this year, and we hope it makes you laugh.”
