Web domain company GoDaddy has pulled a Super Bowl advertisement that hit a nerve with dog lovers across the country.
The television spot, released online ahead of its planned airing on Sunday, depicts a lost puppy's long trek home after falling from a truck on a country road. What might have been a heartwarming story takes a dark turn when the dog finally makes it back, running happily into the arms of his owner.
"I'm so glad you're home!" she says. "Because I just sold you on this website I built with Godaddy."
Animal welfare supporters were outraged by the ad, saying it made light of puppy mills, cruel breeding operations where dogs are repeatedly forced to reproduce only to have their offspring sold off like merchandise - often online. As the animal advocates point out, puppy mill operators routinely put profits ahead of the well-being of animals.
A petition on Change.org calling for the "offensive" ad to be removed got more than 40,000 signatures, arguing:
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; the animal could be sold to someone who runs a fighting ring, someone who abuses animals, or to someone who cannot adequately care for the animal. Animal rights are no laughing matter and to portray them as such is cruel and irresponsible.
GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving responded to critics Tuesday afternoon.
This isn't the first time the company has enraged animal lovers. In 2011, GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons released a video of himself killing an elephant while on a hunting trip in Zimbabwe, prompting a boycott of the web domain service.
Parsons has yet to apologize for that incident.
