Dare to be responsible.
Well, Pit Bull guardians are nothing if not loyal. The outrage that echoed all across the internet this past week over a Verizon commercial for their new Dare phone was impossible to ignore. Letters and emails shot out from all over the country, and Verizon services were canceled in the blink of an eye. Our dogs are big mush pots, but man their owners are tenacious and quick-acting. The controversy even got AdAge Magazine talking
The commercial in question featured snarling, chained Pit Bulls, and a man jumping a fence into the yard that contained them (trespassing, we might add), all in an attempt to reach a phone and hence bringing himself within an inch of being mauled by the dogs. Advocates were understandably angered by the inaccurate and harmful portrayal of their breed. We all know APBTs as loving, sweet, and really bad guard dogs, but the general public has the mistaken belief that the dogs are mean, vicious and well, just like they were shown on that Verizon ad. When people believe falsehoods about Pit Bulls, the breed gets banned, families are torn apart, and innocent dogs die. Our job as guardians and advocates is to help the public understand the breed and ads like Verizon's just enforce incorrect views, leading to support of bans and mass euthanasia. This isn't a knee jerk response due to hurt feelings - lives are at stake, here.
Wouldn't it be nice if companies paused to reflect on the possible negative effects of the images they use in their advertising? A little responsibility goes a long way.
The commercial in question featured snarling, chained Pit Bulls, and a man jumping a fence into the yard that contained them (trespassing, we might add), all in an attempt to reach a phone and hence bringing himself within an inch of being mauled by the dogs. Advocates were understandably angered by the inaccurate and harmful portrayal of their breed. We all know APBTs as loving, sweet, and really bad guard dogs, but the general public has the mistaken belief that the dogs are mean, vicious and well, just like they were shown on that Verizon ad. When people believe falsehoods about Pit Bulls, the breed gets banned, families are torn apart, and innocent dogs die. Our job as guardians and advocates is to help the public understand the breed and ads like Verizon's just enforce incorrect views, leading to support of bans and mass euthanasia. This isn't a knee jerk response due to hurt feelings - lives are at stake, here.
Wouldn't it be nice if companies paused to reflect on the possible negative effects of the images they use in their advertising? A little responsibility goes a long way.
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