Monroe Dog Lovers: What Do You Think of GoDaddy's 'Insensitive' Super Bowl Ad?

The CEO of GoDaddy has pulled the plug on the Super Bowl spot they were going to air after a firestorm of objection was hurled at the company on social media, according to AdAge.com.

The commercial shows a cute puppy being thrown from the back of a pickup truck. The pooch overcomes many obstacles to finally make it him into the loving arms of its owner. Sounds good so far, right? But what ruffled the feathers of animal lovers was how it ended-- with the owner saying she’s glad he came home because she just sold him online with the help of GoDaddy.

Twitter users used the hash tag #BoycottGoDaddy to voice their objection:

• OL’s Mama ‏@OLSMama08 “@GoDaddy @MKelleyBlog no reason to hate your company before this. Was it worth it to repulse people #boycottGoDaddy:
• Adriana Lissette ‏@flowerac “Godaddy.com was stupid for making that commercial #boycottGoDaddy”
• Jackie Bigford ♥ˆ◡ˆ♥ ‏@JackiesBuzz “@GoDaddy FAIL : Remove the Super Bowl 2015 Commercial via @Change http://chn.ge/1zrqcbo #STOPPuppyMILLS #BoycottGoDaddy #PRfail”

Click here to read more Tweets.

Facebook posts:

• Positively Woof said: “Does GoDaddy understand that every 11 seconds a healthy, adoptable animal in a U.S. shelter is euthanized? Does GoDaddy know that dogs should never ride unrestrained in the back of a truck?” Does GoDaddy realize that February is National Spay/Neuter Awareness Month?
• Nature’s Pet Salem said: ”GO DADDY SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL PROMOTES PUPPY MILLS. With over 10,000 puppy mills in the US and an epidemic of puppies being sold online by these millers…. Go Daddy thinks this is funny. Please take a minute and let Go Daddy know that they are trivializing and actually promoting buying a puppy online. We have to stand up for the dogs… because this is not funny.”
• Iowa Voters for Companion Animals said: “OMG. This is awful. Please consider contacting GoDaddy CEO, Blake Irving, to politely tell him this is NOT appropriate and respectfully request that they take this ad out of use. No doubt they simply have no knowledge of the puppy mill problem in our country.”

In a blog post titled “We’re Listening, Message Received,” Blake Irving said, “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.”

Irving also stated that GoDaddy got the puppy used for the ad, ”Buddy,” from “a reputable and loving breeder in California.” According to Blake, Buddy is ”now part of the GoDaddy family as our Chief Companion Officer and he lives permanently with one of our longtime employees.”

As of this posting, Blake has not publicly apologized.

What do you think of GoDaddy’s commercial? Do you think it promotes puppy mills? Tell us in the comments.

Read more here.

Photo/Video: AdAge.com

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